prr-cS'^Efefs p^-' ' TnilUii "NIB ^ifStraPiH ■ iT.■:■:■. ^ v--^.•v. V-'"^ .v.^ v ^ ■■ Vi^ V/.-ÄS ........ e- • . ' ■ v 1 i 1 't ACCOUNT 0(f THE COLONY ot SIERRA LEONE, FROM ira FIRST ESTABLISHMENT IN 1793. BHNU TUK SUBSTANCE OF A REPORT TROPRlETOllS. if Ii VO^ÜIJOTHEK Uli DtilVeRED TO TIU PUBLISHED Br ORDER OF THE DIRECT Xou&oii: PRINTED AND SOU) BV r.IORCjn YARD, I.HMUAttD STrtEtT- J 795 T "PI o D D A yv^o'ioD -a?» 3T,'" '^KCUaAl-»:! TtÄ^ v .1' A'- ■ - . - •„-.•.J- i-.attss- At a General Court of the Sierra Leone Company, held at the PauPs Head Tavern, in Cateaton Street, London, on Thurfday the %']th day of March, 1794, PRESENT Henry Thornton, £fq. in the Chair, Several Members of the Court of Direßors, And between One and Two Hundred of the Proprietors, The Minutes of the laß General Court of the ßoi/j day of May, 1793, ivcre read and confirmed, A Report from the Court of Directors was then ready of which the follozmng is the fiibflance. ^rx.'^.- - ■■ I nHiV V.ViH sv. 'A'A T ■ * -v ••,4» cifV i»t\v» UiK ■\cr - • '.J • v-» ^.-i'.ii^iiL Vv -v^täf. VTij f'-'üiL-V »u^ . -'■'■^ ■' .c \ ' J - '' ' . - SUBSTANCE REPORT, About two years having elapfetl fince the prefent colony at Sierra Leone was fct oa foot, the Dlrečtors of the Sierra Leone Company think it proper to give in this report ä brief hiftory of Its prcgrefs to the prefent time : they will then lay before the Court an account of the Expenses which have been incurred, and of the general finances of the Company; and they will afterward enter into a more particular defcription of the Prefent Situation of the fettlement, arranging their information under the four following heads ; Health, Trade, Cultivation, and Civilization. IN order to introduce the fliort Hiftory that is propofed, it may be proper to ftate A fomc fome chxumRanccs antecedent cvcri to tlie foi'nlation of the prefent colony. In the year 1787, a number of gentlemen liibfcribed a few thoufand pounds, as a fund for affifllng fome hundreds of deftitute blacks, then In London, to fettle at Sierra Leone, where a confiderable didrldl of land had been ceded by the native chiefs for that pur-pofe: government very liberally feconded thefe views, by taking upon itfelf the ex-penfe of tranfporting the blacks thither, and of fupplying them with necenaries during the firil fix or eight months of their refidence in Africa. It might naturally he expedtcd that perfons of this defcription, crouded together on fliipboard, w^ould be very unhealthy, and the event did but too well juftify the fuppo-fition. 1 he number of them that left England was 460, of whom 84 died during their detention In the channel, or on the palfage ; and near a hundred more fell vidims either to their own intemperance, or to the hard-fhips they were expofed to during the fnfl; rainy feafon. The remainder of this body of men, after having built thcmfelves a tov^'ii, and irnju-ovcd gradually in their circum-ftances, were diiperfed in the year 1790, on ac'Dunt of their being involved (though not through their own fault) in the confequences of a difputc between the natives and the crew of a EritiHi vefiel, who had fet iire to the town of a neighbouring chief. They were. again again united in the year 1791, tlirough the interference of the Sierra Leone Company's Agent, and fixed themfelvea in Granville Town, which is about two or three miles diftant from Free Town, the Company's prefent chief fettlemcnt. When the A£t of Parliament liad pafled for incorporating the Sierra Leone Company, and a confiderable capital appeared likely to be raifed for carrying on the undertaking, the Birečtors had an opportunity of renderhig, as they conceived, a very important fervice to the colony, by the acqiiifition of an additional number of free black colouifts, acquainted with the Englifli language, and ac-cuftomed to labour in hot climates, A delegate from a body of blacks in Nova Scotia, fup-pofed to amount to a few hundreds, who was then in England, reprefented that the perfons who fent him hither had migrated to Nova Scotia at the end of the American war, having received from governnient certain ijromiles of lots of land, which liad never been llriilly fulfilled; that both the foil and the climate of Nova Scotia, as well as many other circum-ilances in their iituation, were complaincd of by them, and that many of them were defi-rous of becoming coionifts at the fettlement "which they undeiflood was U^ely to be made at Sierra Leone. The Diredlors concurred with the Delegate in applying to bis Majcily's Minifters for a paflage for tbeni at the expenie of govern-A 4 ment tnent, ami having obtained a favourable an-fwer to their application, they immediately availed themfeives of the fcrvices of Lieut. Clarkfon, who very handfomely offered to go to Nova Scotia, in order to make the neceffary propofals, and to fiiperintend the colle£ting and bringing over of fuch free blacks to Sierra Leone, as might be willing to migrate. All the particulars of the terms, on which the Company engaged to receive them into the colony, were contained in a printed declaration, of which the following Is a copy : " The Sierra Leone Company, willing to " receive into their colony fuch free blacks " as arc able to produce to their agents " Lieut. Clarkfon, of his Majefty's Navy, " and Mr. Lawrence Hartfliorn, of Halifix, " or either of them, fatlsfadory tcrtimonials of their charader, (more particularly as to honefty, fobriety, and indullry) think it proper to notify, in an explicit manner, " upon wliat terms they will receive at Sierra " Leone, thofe who bring with them written " certificates of approbation, from either of " the faid agents, which certificate they are " liereby refpedlivcly authorifed to grant or " -withhold at difcretion. ** It is therefore declared by the Company, " that every free black, upon producing fuch " a certilkate, ihall have a grant of not lefs " than twenty acres of land for himfelf, ten " for his wife, and five for every child, upon ** fuch terms, and fubjcd to fuch charges and (( (C and obligations, with a view to the general profperity of the Company, as Ihall hereafter be ifttled by the Company, in refpci^: to grants of land to be made by them to all iettlers, whether black or white. " That for all ilores and provifions, &c. fupplied from the Company's warehouies, the Company Ihall receive an equitable compenlation, according to fixed niles, extending to blacks and whites indifcrimi-" nately. " That the civil, military, perfonal, and " commercial rights and duties of blacks and " whites iball be tlie fame, and fecured in " the fame manner. " And for the full afTurance of perfonal " protečtion from flavery to all fuch black iettlers, the Company have fubjoincd a claufe contained in the Alame belonged more properly to the Governor and Council, it is not perhaps material now to canvas. The Diredors acquit the body of aQing coimfellors of all wilful mifcondndl; with the exception indeed of one perfon detained in their employ, but not originally appointed by them, whofc knowledge of the natives and of the country made him appear a perfon of Importance at the outlet of the undertaking, but whofe habits of intoxication, idlenefs, and irregularity, as well as want of accuracy iu his infer-mation, it is nccelTary to mention as one chief caufe of the firfl: difficulties of the Colony, and of the hrfi: commercial difappoint-ments of the Company. It is partly to be afcribed to the extraordinary negledt of this perfon (whom it was the duty of the Governor and Council to direfl: and control) that the colony was not fupplied with any Irefh provifions before the fickly feafon arrived. The Company's fltips were not employed for this purpofe, as was direÖed to b^ done ; and the original body of inilrudions to the Governor and Council, drawn up by the Court of Direktors and read to the proprietors, received little or no confideration till long after this period. Confufion in the accounts, in the Itores, in the government, in the information maiion fent home, and in the operations of every kind prevailed; and this confufion not only tended to aggravate in many ways the diftrefs of the fickly feafon, but it ought, perhaps, to he ftated as one principal occafion of the extraordinary mortality. The Directors by no means make thcfc obfervations with any peribnal views, but they think it their duty, when they are ftat-ing the material events that have happened, to declare alio their own impartial opinion of the caufes which have led to them. And as ail the diftreffes and diHiculties of the colony were during the firll rainy feafon at their height, they think it proper to be very particular in their defcription both of the antecedent ftate of things, and of this calamitous period itielf. The difference, and Indeed the contraft, that has been experienced between the firrt and fecond rainy feafons, enables them to do this without fear either of greatly difpiriting the proprietors, or difcrediting the imdertaking. The ficknefs w^as the moft fevere and alarming at the beginning of the rains: about 800 blacks were fiippofed to be laid up at one time, and very few pafTcd through the whole of this trying feafon whhout fome. indifpofition. The diiorder, which was tlie fever common to hot climateij, while it affeÜed in different degrees the blacks and whites almoft indifcriminately, proved much the mofl fata! to the Europeans, and efpccially tothole living living on Hiore ; among whom the mortality was, lit one thne, fuch as to excite reiifoiiahlti apprehenfions concerning the pradicahility of the whole undertakuig, in the minds of any perfoiis not well acquainted with the peculiar circumftanccs of the cafe. In the height of the ficknefs, all the medical perfons, with but one exception, were laid up, fo that a few of the chief fervants only could be properly attended. Tlie ftorc-keepers, living in a damp {lorehoufe, were fonie of the firft viiStims ; increafmg difficulty and coiifufiori in the delivery of the llorcs was the confequence: a retail fliop had not yet been fet up, nor had a money-medium been efl:al)Iifl"ied ; the doors of the itorehouft were continually crouded, but neither food nor phyfic, nor the other necellaries for the fick, though fupplied by the Diredtors in fufficient quantities, were properly diftri-buted. The fettlers huts, which were very fmall, were alfo many of them damp, and a few were as yet unfmilhed: a great depref-fion of fpirits at the fame time generally prevailed, which produced a total helpleflhefa in the cafe of one or two families from England, and this was one chief aggravation of the diforder. The Directors will not here anticipate all the more particular information which they will have to give on the head of the colony's health, fmce it will ,be found in its place in a fubfequent part of this report: they will at prefent only mention that almofl: one one half of die whites living on fliore "were carried off during this dreadful feafon, and nearly one tenth of the Nova Scotians. The colony was juft emerging from that ftate of diftreis into which it had been thrown, when a new event of a perplexing kind called for the attention of the government. A fhip arrived from the Ille of * Bulam, having on board a great number of paffengers, many of them extremely fick, who defired to be received into the colony. The Directors of the Sierra Leone Company had pre-vioufly declined accepting propofals to go out as colonifts, made to them in England by many of the fame perfons who went to Bulam ; for they had conceived the firft fuc-cefs of their colony cITentially to depend on the exclufion of all Europeans ; thofe alone excepted who, being in the regular pay of the Company were entirely fubje£t to them. They were afraid that even a few men from hence of an improper caft, in the fituation of independent fettlers, might materially prejudice or endanger the undertaking; that they might corrupt the morals of the colony, refufe due obedience to government, as well as excite a fpirit of general difcontent; and if for any of thefe caufes they fliould be ex- • The Ifle of Bulam, on which the Bulam AfTociacion pro-pofed to make a fettlenient, is fituateJ near the mouth of the Rio Grinde, about two and a half degrees, or about 175 mile* north of Sierra Leontv The Bollam, or Bulam Shore, hereafter fpoken of, is the Ibore imwediatcly oppofite Sierra Leone, —See Map. eluded eUuled from the fettlement, that they might then only be driven, efpcc'ially if they had left debts in England, to feek a precarious livelihood, by various improper means, among the neighboming natives, and perhaps eventually to turn to Slave Traders, The Directors had been determined by thele confiderations to forbid for the prefent, with a very few exceptions, the admiffion of Europeans into the colony; they had alfo deemed it neceffary to Inquire very ftrič^;ly, both into the characters and circuinilances ot thofe who went out in their fervice; and they had made it a rule to let no man go to Sierra Leone, who left debts in England undif-charged ; a rule of great nie and importance, the principle of which miift be given up if the Bulam adventurers, who were a body of men unknown to the Sierra Leone Company, fliould be received there. The Directors had taken the precaution of Informing the Governor and Council very fully of their fenti-ments, on the whole of this important fub-jed; and they had direded that every friendly afliftance ihould be rendered to the Bulam colony; but in cafe it fliould happen that they fliould leave Bulam and come to Sierra Leone, that they were not to be allowed permanently to fettle there. The Sierra Leone . government, in conformity with thefe inftručtions, declined receiving the paifengers from Bulam as refidents into the colony ; but after fupplying the fick with a few neceilaries, who were accommodated for a fliort a fhort time on fliore, tliey furnUhed iheiu with a velFel to afHA. in ijrlnging tiiein back to England, as their own fliip, the Calypfo, was exceedingly crouded. The Dlredors have thought it proper to ftate thus fully and explicitly, both the orders fent out and the motives which operated with them on the occaiion that has been jufl: fpoken of: they were by no means aftuated by narrow views of monopoly and jealoufy of other traders ; nor fliall tliey ever fufler themielves, as they trull, to be governed by any fuch principles ; and they are perfuaded aUb, that they lliull only fecond the views of the proprietors, by giving encouragement and affirtance to any prudent and well regulated fcheines of fettlement on the coafi: of Africa, fo far as it can be done without too much expenfe to themfelves, and without committing to any frefli hazard the intcrefts of their own colony. The chief obječi that engaged the attention of the government of Sierra Leone after the ficknefs abated, was the diftribution of the lots of land ; a work much more arduous than had been expefted. It was found im-pradicabie indeed to give at once to cach individual his lot of twenty acres ; thofe lands of the Company which are cither contiguous to the water fide, or within a x'eafonable dif-tance from Freetown, not being fufficicnt for the purpofe. Even the labour of cutting the necelTary paths, and of incafuring fo great a tračt ti-äQ of country, would liave been too great to be eafily acconipliflicd hi a Imgle feafon.^ The Nova Scotians were made fo lenfible of this, that they were willing to accept of four acre lots for the prefeiit, of which however they now became exceedingly eager to have immediate pofTeflion. Both the Direftors and the Sierra Leone Government were earneft to have this important work effeded ; for they were bound by the fpirit of the proraifes made in Nova Scotia to lofe no time in diftributing the land, they were urged alfo by the continual importunities of the colonifts, and they were at the fame time influenced by pecuniary confidcr-ations to attempt the mod fpcedy accomplifii-ment of the huHnefs; fmce cach coloniit either continued to draw from the public ftores a gratuitous allowance of provifions, until his lot of ground was given him, or elfe was employed in working under the Company, when perhaps there was no great occafion for his fervices. The orders fent out by the Dlrečlors on the fubjeft of provifions, extended only to an allowance for a term that was fpecified, and applied equally to the Nova Scotians, to the Company's fervants, and to the few colonifts from hence. The government were inftruded to give to all thefe univerfally three months full allowance, equal to the common army allowance, and three months half allowance ; but they, conceiving that the moji ti ves tives wliich fuggefted the giving of tliis gratuity, as well as the equity and even the neceffity of the cafe, called for fome extenfion of it, thought proper to continue giving it to all thofe coloniils w^ho v^ere kept cut of pof-feffion of their four acre lots of land, and who were not engaged in the Company's employ, The Direčtors, though fenfible of the great charge to which they were fubječt-ing the Company, on taking all circumftan-ccs into their confideration, could not refufe their acquiefcence in thefe mcafures of the government. The importance of proceeding with as little delay as pollible in the diftribution of the lands was fo llrongly felt in the colony, that the Company's Surveyor of buildings (who took on him the duty of the Surveyor of lands, the latter having returned on account of ill health to England) attempted with the greateft fpirit to begin his operations, together with a party of Nova Scotians, even before the rains were over; but he was repeatedly topped by ficknefs. Nearly the whole fucceeding dry feafon was confumed before the complete furvey and diiiribution of the four acre lots were fmiflicd, though very great and conftant exertions were made, and a large party of men were employed in the work. The Dire£tors feel much regret at having to mention to the Proprietors, that the land adjoining to the fettlement has proved by no means means fo good as every account received before the inftltutlon of the Company had led them to expedt. The defcrlptioii given of it in the work of Lieutenant Matthews, to which they had in fome meafure trufted, is far more favourable than further obferva-tion of that particular part of the country would have juftified. The Diredors ftatc this to be a difappointment of the moft lerious kind, to which may be afcribed many of the difEculties, and a great part of the unex-pečled charges, that have attended the ei'la-blifhnient of the colony. The fcite of Freetown is unqueftionably the beft that can be found, in refpedl: of the falubrity of the air, the goodnefs of the water, and the convenience of the landing-place; it can hardly fail therefore to conthiue the chief place of trade, though other parts at a moderate dif-tance, particularly thofe on the oppofue fide of the river, will be found the moft favourable to cultivation. Confiderable pains and expenfe have been bellowed on the improvement of the landing-place; feveral other public works of the firft importance, fuch as the ereČling of a church, hofpital, ware-houfes, and other buildings (of which the frames were fent from hence), the fencing and cultivating of a garden of experiment, and the execution of iome mcafures for the-defence of the colony, have alfo conftantly occupied a confiderable number of the Nov;i Scotia blacks, and have caufed a very large n 2 expenfe. expenfe. The Direčlors have the fatisfačlion ofobferving, that no fort has been thought neceflary. As the fecond dry feafon advanced, the colony appears to have been improving in all rcfpeds. An alteration was made in the mode of government, a new council of three perfons having been determined on by the Court of Direčlors inftead of a council of eight; and two gentlemen of confulerable experience the one ufed to a new colony, the other to a tropical climate, were the coun-fellors fent out. Regular minutes of council were kept from this period, and alfo a journal of every material tranfaöion in the colony, copies of which were lent to Kngland from time to time. Periodical reports of the progrefs of cach principal fervant of the Company, in his particular department, were alfo made to the government, and tranfmitted, together with ^ their remarks thereon, to the Diredtors; an indent was fent home of all the European articles likely to be confumed annually by the colonirts ; a more correä. mode of corref-ponding was entered upon ; and the original inftrudlions of the Court, as well as various parts of their fubfequent letters, were now, for the firft time, fully anfwered. • Mr, Daw« and Mr. Macaulay. At At the fame sra when this Improvement took place in refpečt to the intelligence fent to England, the internal order of the colony appears to have advanced materially. New plans were formed for the maintenance of the police and the adminiflration of juftice; more general harmony began to prevail alfo among the Company's fervants; ibme pains were taken to bring up and fettle properly the Company's accounts which had fallen into great confufion, and more regularity of every kind was Introduced: at the fame time the public works gradually advanced, a plan was formed for rebuilding the town on a more extenfive fcale; and the natives (who continued perfectly friendly and often flocked to the fettle-ment) appeared to view the improving ftate of Sierra Leone with increafing fatisfačtion. The breaking out of the war indeed at this time damped the hopes, and in fome mcafure interrupted the progrefs, of the rifmg colony; the embargo laid on Ihipping in England, at the beginning of it, detained lome of the Company's veffels at a very inconvenient period j the prohibition to fend out provifions, ex-» cept in fliips armed, as well as failing with convoy, pi'oved alio highly detrimental to the fettlement: great murmurs were excited by the temporary want of ilour, which was the confequence, and the dread of not being able to get from the neighbourhood a fufficient quantity of rice (tlie fubllitute for bread to 1) 3 which which the Du'eflors trufted) occafionecl very ferious uneafmefs to the government. The additional price that was laid on the Company's goods, in confeqiience of the war, aggravated the difcontent of the cotonifts ; and a part of the propofed plan for rebuilding the town ■was about this time vehemently objected to by the Nova Scotians, they refufing to admit of a rcfervation of ground near the fliore, "which the Government thought proper to malce for the fake of public coavenience : this laft dilpute was fettled, after fome degree of conceiljon on the part of the company. The fecret caufe, however, to which tlie Diredors have been informed that much of the difTa-tisfadlion prevailing at this period may be traced, was the unbecoming condudt of one of the Company's fervants, who, on Mr. Clark-fon's leaving the colony, took occafion to prejudice a confiderable party of labourers working under him, againft the fucceeding government. This body of men made an attempt to raife the price of labour in the colony. which was already very high, by combining to leave their work; but not hnding the government inclined to yield in any mea-fure to their wifliea, they returned, after a week s interval, to their employments, and the Company's fcrvant who was fuppofed to Iiave fown the feeds of this dilTention, and who had alfo manifcfted the grcateft dif-reipcčl towards the government, having come to England, was difmiÜed from, the fervice. I'or For the fake of fatisfying tlie mintls of the colonifts, and fecuring the peace of ihe fettle-ment, it was agreed that two delegates, to be chofen by the whole body of Nova Scotians, fhould be fent to England to lay their complaints before the Court of Directors. This meafure appears to have immediately produced the good efFečt expedted from it. Many circuniftances happened daring the courfe of this fecond feafon, which clearly demonflrated the practicability of introducing cultivation, trade, and civilization into Africa, although the prevalence of the Slave Trade, and the coimterading influence of the perfons engaged in it almoit: every where impeded, more or lefs, the views of the Company. One of the Members of Council, accompanied by another fervant of the Company, made a voyage to the Ifland of Bananas, the Cama-rancas River, and the Plaintain ]fland, all lying to the fouth of Sierra Leone, converfed with fome of the chiefs, and happily removed, in a great meafure, the prejudices which they had imbibed againft the Company, whofe defigns had been reprefented to them as di-redly hoftile to their intereft. As much information on the general fubjedt of Civilization will be given in detail liereaftcr, no more than the brief mention of tlae fuccefs of the Company's endeavours to intcrefi: the cliiefs in their favour, feems in this place neceffary. £ 4 The The advancing ftate of a regular pUtiU-tloii of the Company, worked by native labourers, on the Ilde of the river oppofite to Freetown, is another fuhjcčt ncceflary to be notlccd here, in order to give a jilft idea of the progrefs of the Colony; hut this alio, as well as the benefits derivetl from the la-hours of the Company's botanift, will be more paiticularly fpoken of under the head of Cultivation. ■ The Diredors are forry to mention, that the exertions of their mineralogifl, who was proniifnig to himfelf great fucceis in Iiis rc-fearches, were fuddenly terminated by an unhappy aeeident which brought on his death. His impatience to puriue the obječts for the fake of which lie went out, led him, contrary to the opinion of the Governor and Council, to attempt an incurlion into the interior country before the rains wei'e over: he was furniiKed with goods to the amount oi£200 or with which he propofed to trade as Vvrell as to purchafe neeeffaries during his journey, and he was attended when he fet off by one or two free blacks. It appears that lie was after a ihort time plundered of his goods, in a part of the country wliere fome danger of this fort iniglit have been apprehended. Wlien he got back to Sierra Leone, he was too weak and exhauiled by a fever, which he had contraded during his expedition, to give any diftind account of his misfortunes, or of tiie hardlliips he had fuffered on his return, and he died a few days after. A number A number of other circumftances very in-terefting to the colony, and to the feelings of the Dire(2:ors, have happened from time to time, which, if they were all detailed, would extend this report to a very confidcrable length : the recital of them would tend to Ihew the variety of unexpected difliculties, accidents, and dangers to which a new colony is fubjcčt, and more fully to explain the caufcs of that very large expenditure which the Directors will have to ft ate: it would alfo fcrve to exhibit the growing ftrength of the colony ; and to prove that it lias now bccome much more able to furmount any common accident, than it had been during its earlier infancy. One event not yet noticed deferves to be particularized; that of the arrival at Sierra Leone of the late King Naimbanna's fon, w!io had come to England for education, and his death within two days after. His character and improvement in learning will make an intereiling article, when the particular point of the Civilization of Africa is conftdered. His father, who was king or chief of Sierra Leone, died a few months after the inftitution of the colony, to which he fliewed Iiimfelf on all occafions the firmeft friend, and the news of his deceaie occafioned his fon's return. It is not at all probable, that if the fon had lived he would have been clečted King by the chiefs with whom the choice lies ; for they feein difpofed in this inftance. inftaiicc^ as has been the cuftom in other cafes, to prefer fome perfon of a more advanced age to all the young relations of the deceafed. But though the Direktors had no expetHiation that the fon would fucceed to the fituation of his father, yet there were cir-cumrtances which led them to hope that he would not fail to render moft important fer-vices to the Company on his return to his native country j and they therefore wi(h to pay to his memory the juft tribute of obferv-ing, that they confidcr the death of fo fincere a friend to the Sierra Leone Company, and of fo enlightened an African, as one of the calamities with which they have been vHited, and as one of the inftances in which Providence has been pleafed to difappoint the immediate hopes and expedations of tlie infant colony. A fufpicion arofe amongft his countrymen, in confcquence of the groundlcfs fuggcftion of a black, that he had been poi-foned by a fcrvant of the Company on ihip board, and a long palaver was hehl upon the fubje<£l; by wlilch, though it ended favourably, fome alarm was excited in the fettle-ment, and fome very unreafonable expenfcs, through the nccelhty of entertaining a great concourfe of natives, were incurred. The Diredors in giving this hifloiical account of tlie colony, which they have now brought down to tlie beginning of the fecond rainy feafon, have not fpoken of the Trade of -of the Company, tliat being a fubjed which ■ will be better treated of by itfelf. It inuft be obvious, from the view of things which has been given, that the eftablifhment of the colony, Involving as it has done the happinefs of above a thouland perfons, and implicating alfo in a great mcafure the future commercial interells of the Company, has hitherto been the chief obje£t. Coniiderable exertions however were made during the fecond dry leafon in the way of trade, the Governor and Council having followed up the orders fent out on this fubječl with great fpirit. But here the Birečtors have to mention another calamity very lately announced to them, which is likely to produce fame degree of inconvenience to the colony, as well as interruption to the trade ; but which is chieHy to be lamented on account of the pecuniary lofs attending it, namely, the deftrudTion of the Company's ftore-fliip the York, with a confidcrable quantity of goods in her, by fire. Thefe confilled partly of the cargo of the fhip Harpy, which had lately arrived from England, and partly of African produce, valued at about /^4000, which had been col-ledted by the Company's fmall veflels up and down the coaft, and was on the point of being fent to England. The fire is ftated to have happened in the day time, but to have fpread neverthelefs with great rapidity, having caught the awning over the deck; fome attempts were made to induce both the natives and fettlers fettlers to affift in extlnguiflilng it, but they all refufed to approach the veflel, conceiving that a large quantity of gunpowder was on board,' nor would they credit any afl'urances to the contrar)^ The whole lofs fuftained by the Company on this occafion, is calculated by the Governor and Council at above jT. 15,000, No infurance had been made cither on the veffel or the goods in her, which indeed it would not have been very prafti-cable to efFe£t, to any confiderable extent, under all the circumftances of the cafe. The fame vcfTel which brought home the account of the fire, brought alfo the lirft information both of the collection of this African produce, and of the arrival at Sierra Leone of the goods which were burnt. The Dircftors have the fatisfadlon of ob-fcrving to the Court, that the fame difpatches which conveyed this unhappy intelligence, brought alfo very favourable accounts of the colony, particularly in refpečt to healthincfs, up to the end of the fecond rainy feafon. In the period correfponding to that which had carried off, in the preceding year, one tenth of the blacks and nearly one half of the whites, no particular mortality had happened ; and yet the lad feafon is faid to have been more unfavourable than ufual, the rains having been heavy, and the mortality in the neighbouring factories uncommonly great. It is obfervable alfo, that the rcfidents on fliore are are found now to have their health much better than thofe on fhip-boarcl, the experience of the fecond year being in this refpetl the reverfe of the experience of the firll: even the mortality on fliip-board, however, appears in the fecond year to have decreafed. On the whole therefore the Directors trull, that fmce the colony has ftood its ground even during the worft part of a verjr un-heahhy year, it may now faii:ly be conhdcred as in a ftate of progrelTive improvement. Having thus brought the Hiftory of the fettlement down to the period of Chrilbnas 1793, the Diredtors will ftate in the next place fome circumftances which have taken place in England, before they proceed to give an account of the fums which have been expended, and of the prefent ftate of the Company's capital. It has been already mentioned that two delegates, chofen by the body of Nova Sco-tians, were permitted by the Governor and council to go to England, in order to lay the various complaints of their conllituents before the Court of Directors. They prefented a petition purporting to be the fenfe of the whole body, couched in ftrong terms, which however the DiretHiors have fome reafon to think were not thoroughly approved by a great part of the Nova Scotiaixs : the petition had never been fhewn to the Governor and Council. The points complained of were, chiefly, the tt the h'lghpilcc of goods at the Company's Aorc-« houle; the inadequate wages paid to them by the Company for their labour ; the nonfulfil-ment of certain promifes faid to have been made to them by Mr. Clarkfon ; and a variety of trifling inftances of fuppofed mifcondudt in the fucceeding Governor. The Court of Direčlors, after fully confi-dering the petition, and hearing the evidence of the delegates thereupon, came to the following refolutiony which was communicated to them: " Refolved, " That the Court confider the petition of the Nova Scotians as harty, and the faÖs therein mentioned as chiefly founded on " miftake and mifinformation. " That it appears to have been drawii up and agreed to, at a time when the unfor-" tunate delay of the Company's fliips, through " the breaking out of the war, had occafioned " fome temporary diftrefs and diilatisfaäion, which fome defigning perfon or perfons " then in the colony may have contributed " to increafe. " The Court are of opinion therefore, that " through the arrival of the large fuppHes " lately fcnt from hence, and the continued " care and attention of the Governor and " Council to the interefts of the colony, every " material caufe of diffatisfadion will have " ceafed before the arrival of thefe refolutions at at Sierra I.eone. As it is undoubtededly the interefls of the colonifts, fo the Di-redors truft it will alfo be their general wiih, to promote harmony and to difcoun-tenance all factious attempts to dllcredit the Government of Sierra Leone; fmce on their due obedience to government, under the blefling of Providcnce, their happifiefs, their liberty, and perhaps their very lives, depend. It is on tliis ground that the Directors earneftly exhort the general body of Nova Scotians, both as freemen and as Chriftians, to difcourage all iinreafon-able dilcontent, to pay refped: and obedience to the government: and if, contrary to the Direčlors expc6:ations, any adual grievances fliould exift at the time of receiving this refolution, the Court of Directors recommend it to the Nova Scotians temperately to reprefent the cafc to the Governor and Council. But if thev Ihould liereafter conceive it to be necelTary to prefer their complaints hither, that they will, in fuch cafe, previoufly acquaint the Governor and Council with the purport of them ; in order that tlie Court may receive their lentiments thereupon, and may thus have the whole of'the fubjeft at once before them." The delegates having been made acquainted with the above refolution, a very hafty re-monftrance from them was the confequence, in which tliey betrayed the fame kind of vehemence hemence and difrefpedt to the Court of Dlrccj. tors, which had occaflonally been fhewn td the government at Sierra Leone. * After about two months further detention in England, during which it was thought proper ta make them a fmall allowance for their fub-fiftence, and after feme further interviews with the DireÜors, they fet fail, having apparently become perfeO.Iy well difpofed to the Company. The Proprietors muft probably have been led to rcilečt in tlie courfe of the preceding Pliftory, and efpeclally in confequence of the laft mentioned circumftances, how important as "well as difficult a p;irt of the Directors duty it has been, to give tolerable fatisfadtion ta the Nova Scotians on the one hand, and to avoid every profufe and improper application of the Company's funds on the other. And indeed the Directors have fo often had oc-ealion to notice to the Court the trouble and expenfe which the Nova Scotians have oc-cafioned, that fome doubt may probably have been excited, concerning the general expediency of the meafure of introducing them into the colony. A few further obfervatlons i'cem therefore neeeifary to be added, in order to leave a juft imprellion both of the advan- • It has fmce appeared that the Delegates held communiCAtion with the difmilTcd fcrvant of the Company {at thu time in England) who ha: been already alluded to. tages tages and difadvantag;e.>5 which have refulted from the migration of this body of men. to Sierra Leone. It muft be admitted that the charge which they have brought on t)ie Company has been extremely great ; the grant of provifions, which was made on the principle already mentioned, may be eftimated at about twenty thoufand pounds ; the Company's eftabU^h-ment has in almoil every part of it been unavoidably enlarged in proportion to the number of colonifls; the Company's fhlps have been necelTarily employed in a great meafure for their ufe ; and an expenfe has iikewife been incurred in the dilbibution of the lands allotted to them ; fome lofs has alfo been luf-tained by taking more of them into the Company's employ, than were always wanted for the public fervice, and by allowing them at the fame time a rate of wages which, though complained of in feveral of their memorials to the government, was at leaft tivice as high as, that given to the natives, who neverthelefs are nearly equal to the Nova Scotians in the article of common labour; though it muft be confefled that the natives are totally incapable of fome very neceilliry branches of work, with wiiich the Nova Scotians are tolerably well acquainted. Theie arc the principal charges to which the Company has been fubjeäed by the ac-ceffion of this body of colonilts: they are charges of which for the moft part it was, c from from the nature of them, impoffible to make any juft eftimate before-hand, and the extent of which, on account of the unexpeöed number that embarked, as ■well as the various delays and difappointments that happened at Sierra Leone, was certainly not forefeen. But it Ihould be remembered, that when the Direüors invited thefe fettlers to Sierra Leone they afted neceffarily on probabilities; they were aware that various circumftances very difficult to be calculated might arife, but a prompt decifion on their part was indifpen-lible. They thought it prudent, on the whole to make the promifes in the declaration that has been read to the Court, and the Nova Scotians have crofled the feas on the faith of having them fulfilled. The Direktors however fairly avow, thatj befides a literal compliance with the ftipulations made in Nova Scotia, they eonfuler themfelves alfo to be under a moral obligation not to leave the colonifts to experience any extremities, which the Company can relieve, until it lhall be poflible for them to fupport themfelves by their lands, or by fome other means ; and on tbis ground it is that they have never yet hefitated to fend out to the fettlement what-foever gootU they had reafon to believe were üridtly neceffary for its coniumption ; leaving it to the dilcretion of the Governor and Council to furnllh fuch articles, as they thought fit to the colonics on credit. If If thofe expectations which the Dlreftors formed, and which they tli'ink they had good reafoa to form at the time when they invited over the Nova Scotians, had been fulfilled ; if the land round Freetown had been as fruitful as it was defcribed; and the Nova Scotians had proved as manageable and as induftrious as they were reprefented, and as they appeared for fome fpace of time to be ; the charges would then unqueftlonably have been lefs, and the advantages on the other hand would have been much greater, than they have proved: nor can any doubt be entertained that the tranfplanting of this body of men to Sierra Leone would, in that cafe, have been a mea-iure in a high degree benefknal both to tliem-felves, to the Company, and to Africa. But even under all the difficulties and dlf-appointments which have arifcn, the advantages that have refulted from their migration have been many and important; though they have been advantages that have accrued rather to Africa and to the colonifts themfelves, than to the Proprietors. A more rapid improvement in the healtlu-nefs of the fettlement, through the more enlarged fize of the town, and the more extended cultivation of the foil, a greater facility in inducing valuable men to go out on account of the greater importance of the undertaking, a more confiderable extenlion of the Company's reputation and influence in Africa, and a quicker progrefs in civilization, but, c 2 above above all, a far greater fecurky hereby obtained againft any attack that might be dreaded either from the natives or any other enemy— all thcfe are advantages which evidently belong to an undertaking on a larger, rather than to one on a fmaller, fcale ; and if therefore there be no danger, left the funds which may properly be deftined to the eftabllfhment of the colony fliould be exhaufted before it has arrived at maturity, it can hardly be denied that fo powerful a body of colonifts muft afford a far better profpečl of fucceeding in the great objeds of the inftitution. The Direüors in proceeding to lay before the Court an account of the Expenfes which have been incurred, and a general ftate of the Company's finances, have only further to premife, that in difcharging their important truft, they have endeavoured to pračtife that fpecics of oeconomy which is conncčted both with found policy and with fubftantial julHce. They have had a duty to fulfil to three defcriptions of perfons: to the Proprietors in the fir ft place, with whofe money they have been entrufted ; to their fervants at home and abroad, who ought to be fairly requited according to the nature of their fer-vices; and they have alfo been under that obligation of duty to the colonifts which has been already fpoken of. To reconcile thefe diiferent, different, for they will not call them contending, claims, has been the great obječt of the Diredkors. They will ftate firft the Expenfes Incurred in eftablifliing the colony, of which, though the total can hardly fail to be tolerably correct, yet many particulars, in confequence of the caufes already ftated, are taken merely from eftimate. e 3 EXPENSES expenses incurred 1 N ESTABLISHING THE COLONY. Charges antecedent to the incorporation of the Company, confining chiefly of two fmall veflels, fent to explore the country with a view to a future fettlement . . , Charges of incorporation I zoo 650 1850 Charges of Heme Eftablifliment,vlz. Furniture and repairs of the Sierra I,eone Houfc 450 Houiekeeper's falary, coiils, candles, houfe ^ rent and taxes, and other incidental ex-pcnfes for about two years, to Chriftmas i7?J - . ..... Printing, advertifing, poHage, books, ftation- ary and counting houfc charges, for about 85° two years, to ditto Officers and clerks falaries to ditto - - 1480 Expenfe of educating and clothing natires fent to England, and their paJIages, about Charges of the Eflablifhment at Sierra Leone, viz. Ternporary allowance of provifions to all the 1 Company's fervants, and expenfe of the C tabic of the governor, botanift, and minera-f logirtj &c. cftimated at - - - 1 raJTage of fervants and artificers out and home, eflimated at - - - ' . ^ 5 Their travelling expenfcs and other charges g in England - - - ' ^ An:iountof falaries to Sierra Leone fervants' for about two year!, to Chriflmas 1793 - j ' ' ° 351S 5 00 16130 Carried forward Brought forward ---- 2200; Incidental expenfes In the Colony, viz. Medicines, furgical inftruments, books and 1 (lationarjfj Sec. - - - - J ' Equipment of bot.inift and mineralogill - 400 Prefents to chicfs, expenfe of palavers, and } ^ ^ various other incidental chargcs - - i ■- 3530 Expenfe of the Outfit and Maintenance of fuch part of the Company's SHIPPfNG, as was j employed for the protedion and accommodation ? 17S40 of the colony, and in collefting proviiions and live I llock on the coail, about - - -J Expenfe of Provifions granted to the colo-nilts before they were put into pofleflion of their acooa lands, ertimatcd at - - ... SuudryLoflesandGratuitiesin England," confining chicfly of fums advanced to the Company's fervants, which were not recovered through their dying or retiring from the fcrvice, and of ^ 1245 gratuities paid according to the terms of the Company's engagement to the near relations of the deccafed SUPPOSED EXPENSE in ESTABLISHING the 7 , COLONY - - - -} To which is to be added the lofs fuHained ' by the burning of the ihip York, eili- ■ 15000 mated at And other loflTes by robbery, damage 1 through expofure to the climate, and 1- 3000 articles that proved unferviceable - J -- 18000 SUPPOSED EXPENSE of ESTARLtSHING 1 . . the COLONY, thcLObS INCLUDED - gj^ r im ' The CAPITAL STOCK of the Company is 235280 The intereft received thereon is - 7619 Making tagethcr - - - 242899 From which if the above fum of - 82620 be taken. There remains - - - 16027g to be accounted for, which is done in the following manner ; DEAD STOCK »t SIERRA LEONE, which, though ftatcd as part gf the remaining effeils of the Company, ij ncverthe-Iffs not to be conlidered as convertible into money, nor as bearing a valut by any means equal to the fum which it hai coft, conCfting of buildings, lands, anil fortifications, &c. at Sierra Leone. Buildings belonging to the Company, viz. Cofl at Sierra Leone of a church, warehoufe, ringe of (liojps, two hofpitalä, two divelUng-houles, and four canvas houfes, fen t from ' England, about Coil at Sierra Leone of various materials for j finirtilng the builoings belonging to the C Company, via. bricks, tiles, lime, fcant-Q ^^ ling, and deals, about - -1 Coft of putting together the buildings fentl out, and of the ereftion of other buildings ! for the ufe of the Company's fervsnts, f about - . . -J Expended in improving the landing-place, 1 making » whaif, roads, and fundrypubtic t jcoo works, about - - . ^ A large crane, fire engines, &c. - 705 Fcrtiicure for the ufe of the governor, phy-1 fician, and chaplain . - . j S®® »S93S Lands, viz. Expended in purchafe of lands at Sierra T Leone and in cultivation on the Company's \ 1750 account - - - - - 3 In the allotment of lands to the Nova Sco-^ lians, on which a rent is rcferved to the S 2500 Company, about ... .J --- ^250 Articks for the defence of thq colony, viz. Expended in arms, ammunition, and other articles - - -J In labour ind conürufüon of works of dcfence - 2000 about -- 4500 Total Dead Stock - 24685 Capital In Trade, viz. Afncan produce in England, ellimated at 16900 Cargoes of three veffeU now on their paiTagc out Dedufl for goods not paid for 10400, Goods at Sierra Leone, or on bobrd the Company's vcffels on the coaft Value of dollars in the colony, about Debts due from the colonllls to the Company" much the greater part of which is cxpeöed to be recovered, about Prefent ellimated value of the Company's Shipping Total Capital now invefled in trade - - 1000 24685 6500 7900 1000 2000 9C00 Property belonging to the Company placed at interett, &c. or invefted in public lecuritier, viz. I. /. i, C. t. J. placed at interell in the! hand) of the Royal >39000 Q O Bank of Scotland -J Al Meflrs. Barnctt and ( Co's. the bankers,&c. I '5' 9 -—39'S' 9 Invefted in 4 per cent."| confolkiated Bank ^15140 o o Annuities J In India, bills and bonds 23163 12 8 InNavyandviduallingJ^^^^^ .6 7 --69042 9 3 Total property at intereft and in public lecurities . . ----108194 TOTAL REMAINING EFFECTS of theT COMPANY, the DEAD STOCK at SIER- I /• , RA LEONE included, on the iftof March, f >7?3 ... -J THE Directors have thus flated, as cor-rcdtly as they are able, the whole expenditure that has taken place, and the fituation of the funds of the Company ; hut they cannot dif-mifs this fubjedl without oblerving, that they confider the cxpenfes of which they have been giving the account as cxti'emely great, and as very far exceeding every idea which the Proprietors can be fuppofed originally to have formed of their probable extent. The extraordinary magnitude of them has been owing to a variety of unforefeen circumftances, which, though already touched upon in the preceding narrative, the Diredors will fhortly recapitulate. Tliey appear principally to be the following : Firil, the inefHciency of the original body of counfellors, wlio gave occalion to great irregularity in the outlet of the colony, and it is to be feared alio, to much prodigality and waftc. Secondly, the fickncfs and mortality of the firfl: rainy feafon, which not only iufpended for a time ahnoilall the indultry of the colony, hut likewife tended to aggravate, in various ways, feveral chief heads of expenfe. Thirdly, the unprodučtivenefs of the land adjoining the town, wliich by diminiHiing the means of prefent fupport to the colonifts, has neeeffarily thrown an increafed weight of cx-penie upon the Company. Fourthly, the burning of the York, a mlf- fortune fortime of the firft magnitude, if confidered in a pecuniary light. Fifthly : one f^urther circumftancc remains to be mentioned, namely, the breaking out of the war; an event,•which befides putting the Company to the expenfe of furnilhing additional protedion to the fettlement, has raifed the coit of the European articles carried thither to a confiderable degree ; which has therefore increafed the expenfe of living at Sierra Leone, has tended to prevent the de-creafe that might have been looked for in the price of labour, and has thus enhanced the charge of profecuting thofe public works in which the Company, at a more early period, thought proper to engage. The Directors might alio notice a number of other dilad-vantages to which the Company has been fubjeded by the war ; fuch as the long detention which it has occafioned to fome of their veiTqls, and the difficulty and expenfe of procuring and maintaining failors: the uncertainty which the war has caufed in the tranfmillion of intelligence, may alfo Ite ftated both as a pecuniary difadvantage and a very material inconvenience. Having thus enumerated the principal iinforefeen caafes whereby the charges of eftablifliing the colony have been aggravated, the Directors wifli to notice two particular heads of expenfe in the preceding account, which have exceeded their expedtatinu very con fide ral )lv confulerably indeed : they allude to the charge of£20,000 for provirions,and that of ^17,840 for maintenance of fuch part of the Company's ihipping, as has been ^plied to the prote(Sion and ufe of the colony. The Diredors have the fatir.fa£tion of oh-fer^'ing, that of thefe two chief heads of charge, the former has now entirely, and the latter has very nearly, eeafed ; and they wifh to inform the General Court, that they are ufmg their beft endeavours to put a period in like manner to all expcnfcs, cxcept thofc which either fail under the head of Trade, and Cultivation on the Company's own account, or belong to the annual eftablilhment. They truft indeed that the redudtion of ex-penfes which they have been aiming at, is now nearly efTedted; and that while the chief difficulties of the colony are fubfiding on the one hand, the Company's burthen in fupport-ing it is cealing alfo on the other. On the whole, when the Directors review what is part, they are ready to own that they fee fome things, which, if pofiefled of more experience, they might have condučled in a more frugal or advantageous manner ; they however perceive many of the untoward cir-cumftances which have arifen, to have been fuch as human forefight could not have anticipated, nor human wifdom have controlled ; they tliey can alfo look back upon many efcapes and deliverances which the colony has experienced, not through any care or management of thofe whom the Proprietors have appointed to fuperintend it, but through that help of Providence alone, which has hitherto proteded it.—When they look forward, they are led, from their own pad experience, to expedl fome further difficulties and dangers, not now poffi-ble to be diftindly fpoken of or provided againfl:: and they are aware alfo that the beginning of colonization has been in general arduous, hazardous, and cjcpenlive ; far more fo than the minds of thofe who firft engaged in fuch undertakings have been difpofed to believe. The Directors therefore by no means allow themfelves to indulge any cxpedations of rapid and uninterrupted fuccefs, yet they are induced, by the gradual advances towards maturity which the colony has already made in the midfl: of many difficulties, to entertain an increafmg hope of its eftablilhment and future profperity ; and they feei for their own part very fufRcient encouragement fteadily and cheerfully to perfevere. They are confcious however, that after all the attention due to fuch an undertaking has been given to it, they muft leave the event to the Supreme Dilpofal of Him, who can either difiippoint utterly, if he pleafes, the moft favourite fchemes of men; can obftrudt and fufpend for a while their accompliflunent; or can crown them, if he fees ( 4Ö ) fees fit, -with the moft fignal and unexpe£l:ed fucceis. They will proceed now to fpeak of the fevcral heads of which they gave notice that they fhould treat particularly, in the intro-dudion to this Report. HEALTH. HEALTH. THE Directors have already mentioned the caufes to which they are perfuaded that the mortality in the firft rainy feafon at Sierra Leone ought to be alcribed ; but their obfer-vations on this fubjed will be very much il-luftrated and confirmed by the ftatement of feme particulars refpečling it. The upper fervants of the Company who went out in the firfl: year, were twenty-fix in number ; thefe confifted of eight counfcllors, a chaplain, feveral mcdical perlbns, a fecre-tary, accountant, and fome others, who were all well accommodated : no more than four of this clafs in that year died, and of thefe four deaths only two can properly be charged to the climate. Of lower fcr\'ants, fiich as clerks in the ftore-houfe, overfeers, a gardener, baker, and feveral artificers, there went out fifty-nine perfons, their families being included, of whom no lefs than twenty-nine died ; many of thefe were often expofed to the rains, and feveral of them were intemperate ; they were alfo in general uncomfortably lodged, and, in confequence of the ficknefs prevailing among the furgeons, they could have but a fmall Hiare of the mcdical attendance. Of fettlers there went out, including their families. families, eighteen, of whom no lefs thait thirteen died ; fome of thefe were much ad-difted to liquor, and their fituation was in every refpeä: werfe than that of the laft mentioned clafs. Of foldiers there went out fixteen, who were almoft imiverfally intemperate 5 when it is alfo confidered how they mufi: have been circumftanced in other refpeds, it cannot excite much furprife that fo many as eleven of thefe fliould have died. In all there went out in the firfl year, one hundred and nineteen white pcrfons, of whom fifty-feven died. In the fecond year, all the foldiers and fettlers, ai well as the families of the lower whites, having either died or returned to England, the whites refident in the colony were reduced to about forty, of whom only four or five have died. The Direčtors do not include in this account any deaths among the officers and crews of the Company's fhips, becaufe, as they were not always ftationed at Sierra Leone, the queftion of tiie healthinefs or unhealthinefs of the colony is not much affeČted by the degree of mortality among them ; nor has any complete return on this fubječt as yet reached England. The Direitors are led to judge however, from the information which has beeo received from the greater part of their fhips, that between twenty and thirty white failors may have died on board of all their veffels in the Hie Ipace of two years: the whole number of Tailors In their fervice has feldöm exceeded one liumlred and forty, or oac hundred and fifty, and the mortality may perhaps therefore be fairly computed at about /even or eight per cent, per annum.* The mortality among the Nova Scotians has been as follows. The number of thofe that landed in the year 1792 was eleven hundred and thirty-one, many of them belnt; very ill through the remains of a fever which appears to have been fatal to a few of their original body in Nova Scotia, and to have carried off lixty-hve of them during thu paf-fage : of thefe eleven hundred and thirty-one perfons thus Janded, forty died within a few weeks after they reached Sierra Leone, evidently in confequence of the fame fever : the whole body then became extremely healthy, but when the rainy feafon was fet in, an iil -moft univerfal ficknefs prevailed, of which ninety-eight Nova Scotians died, which was nearly one-tenth of their whole number. In the fecond rainy feal'on, altliough fome return of ficknefs has been experienced, yet * It appears from tlie evidence of che fubrtance of the mutter rolls from Liverpo-jl and liriftol, given, iu to Iiis Mu-jelly's privy counfcl, and infeitcd in their lorddiip's printed report, that the mortality among the faüors during one voyage in the Slave Trade, is about tiuenly-eiit per cent, eight hundred and fifty-eight luilors liaving died out of four thoulaiul ind eighty, who formed the crews of one hundred and twelv® iliips. j> the the deathe among the Nova Scotians Iijive been very few indeed. The account which the Direčlois have received does not extend to the whole year, but it appears that not more than five of them have died durhig three of the mofl unhealthy months. Tlie following is an extract from a report of the Company's pliyfician, written in the moft unfavourable period of the Lift rainy fea-fon, being dated the 14th of Oftober, 1793" Although the degree of ficknels fmce " the commencement of the prefent year has " been upon the whole comparatively fmall, and the lofs fuftained by deaths trifling, yet " thofe months which have elapfed fmce the ** beginning of the rains have proved more lickly than all the preceding. The Nova " Scotians have experienced during the rains " a confiderable fhare of ficknefs, but in " general the complaints were trifling. They appear now to be fo well accuftomed to the climate, that there is little reafon to " apprehend any great mortality among them. There are but few who ftill fufier from the " effedls of laft year's ficknefs, or whoi'e " health is precarious. Few places perhaps " in England, of the fame fize, can ihew a. greater number of fine healthy looking " children than are daily to be feen in our " fchools ; the Jicat of the climatc appears to " have little cfFečt lipon them.— During this " period fevers have been pretty frequent " among the whites j I have every reafon " to to hope the fick lift Is on the decreafe, and " I flatter myfelf they will all be reftored " to health. One very unfavourable circum- fiance has attended our fick this year, the " want of flour ; it being fcrioufly felt by " thofe in health, much more fo by the fick." The fubfequent difpatches of the 26th December, 1793, give a much more favourable account of the health of the colony at that time, and mention the mortality of that whole year to have been as already ilatcd to the Court. The Dire£tors think it proper here to add a remark that chiefly regards themfelves, concerning that vaft mortality among the whites which happened in the fnfl year. The Proprietors muft have obferved that the greateft proportion of deaths was among the fettlers, the foldiers, the lower fervants, and artificers. It afibrds the Diredors no fmall fatisfačlion to refleä:, that inftead of urging any of thefe to adventure out, they refufed to engage many perlbns of each of thefe three delcrip-tions, whom they were earneftly folicited to fend, and were with difficulty prevailed on to carry out thofe who went. The unwlllingriefs of tlie Diredtors to take out that clafs among whom the mortality was the greateft, namely, tlie European fettlers, gave umbrage to fevcral perfons who were very eager to become African cclonifts, and in r> 2 part part perhaps gave occafion to the Inftltutlon of the Bulam Company. 1 heir uidifpofition to enhirge the number of foldicrs, among whom, next to the fcttlers, the mortality was the gi'eatcH:, occalioned the refignation of one or two of their chicf fcr-vaiits, and at llic fame time drew a ftrong remoTiitrance from feveral gentlemen, who were purpofing to adventure out. The Director« were aUb fo much aware of the various evils which might relult from the maintenance even of their Imall military eftahhlh-ment, that they wrote to recall all the foldlcrs as foon as the peaecablenefs of the natives was afcertained, but the order arrived too late. They were fo fenfible alfo of the danger to which the artificers and their families, who formed a material part of the third clafs, were expofed, (motl of whom througli an accident at fea were likely not to arrive till the eve of the rainy feafon) that they offered to dif-charge a great part of them in England, not only indemnifying them for their lofs of time, hut adding alfo fome gratuity j a few accepted the offer, but a great part, inchidliig almort all thofe who had families, were bent on the profeciitioii of the voyage. The Diredors have mentioned thefe minute circumftanccs, for llic fake of letting it appear that they have been far from eager, on their part, in prefling thofe to go to Sierra Leone who have run the greateft rifle of tlieir lives in advcntiu'hig thither, and for the fake of of pointing out alfo the extreme clanger to which thole perfons are expolcd on their arrival in a tropical climate, who are cither unprovided with the means of comfortable accommodation and fuhfiftenee, or who are likely to fall into any habits of intemperance ; for the above detail will fhew that thefe are the two principal caufes to which the extraordinary mortality is evidently to be traced. The Direčtors having thus endeavoured to give an exadt and impartial account of thofe circumftaiicfs and events in the colony which relate to the fiil)je£t of Health, are defirous of leaving its charadter in this refpeiSt to reft on the funple evidence of the abovementioned fačls; they will only add, that they are not aware of any reafons why the climate of Sierra Leone fliould prove eventually inferior to that of many fettlements between the tropics, in different quarters of the world, of which the healthinefs is now undifputed; for fome of thefe have been much more unfavourable to the health of the firft fettlers than Sierra Leone has yet proved: it feems therefore very rea-fonable to expeö, that in proportion as cultivation advances, and all the accommodations of life improve, the fame gradual amendment will 'take place in the healthinefs of this colony, which has been experienced in other cafes. TRADE. TRADE. IN fpeaking of the Trade of the Company, the Direčlors have rather to mention the orders give a and the fleps taken, with a view to its inftitution, than to report much actual progrefy. They fent out a moderate afTortmcnt of goods for trade by the very firft fhips, but though this was done in confequencc of the advice of the commercial agent himfelf, who took charge of them and who was well acquainted with tlie coart, yet no effort to dif-pofc of them was made during his continuance ill their fervice. The chief part of thefe articles confequentiy remained on lliip-board during the rains; even many of thofe intended for immediate ufe in the colony were not delivered out of the veflels till after this period, and it is to be feared, that through the mifcondučl: of this perfon, as well as the inefEciency of the Council and the confequent confufion in the colony which has been ftated, while many individuals were lofmg their lives on the one hand, no fmall part of the Company's property was diflipated on the other. I he irregularity that prevailed in the commercial department, was much aggravated by the iilncfs of almoft all the perfons employed in in It. The ficknefs of the chief ftorekeeper was luch that lie was obliged to return to England ; the chief accountant died ; the chief commercial agent, who has been already fpoken of, died alfo, without having rendered up any regular accounts ; feveral inferior ftorekeepers, as has been mentioned under the preceding head, fell vidllms to the fevere duty which the difliculties of this period impofed on them ; and the perfons who, through the ncccHity of the cafe, were iippointed on the fpot to fill the vacancies, were little ufed to hook-keeping ; one perfon alone remained (the prelent book-keeper) who was properly accjuainted with mercantile bufmefs. Thus it has happened, that the Diredors, who thought they liad done every thing that depended on them to fecure punduality in accounts, from the very inftitution of the colony, have found themfelves entirely deprived of the proper means of examining into the expenditure and application of all the firil cargoes; and they are forry to add, that although one of the Members of Council applied himfelf, for a confiderable time, to the cllablifliment of a proper fyftem of bookkeeping, yet his efforts alfo have been rendered abortive through the burning of the Yoik, whereby all the moft material books of the colony were deftroycd. The Court will not wonder that the Di-rcdlors weie flow in fending out articles for trade trade at a time when ib much confufion was known to prevail in the colony, and when the commercial fcrvants, who hiid died or returned to England, were not yet replaced. The Company's prefent commercial agent however carried out a Ijrge afTortment iuited to the African market, a great part of which was immediately diftributed on board the Company's fmall veifels, which went with them down the coaft ; the remainder, as has been ftated, were unfortunately dellroycd on board the York, In order to give a more complete idea of the commercial plans of the Diredors, it may he proper here to mention the number of veffels of every kind belonging to the Company, and the fervices in which they are employed. They have one lliip, the Harpy, of 380 tons burthen ; another, the Amy, of 200 tons ; and ten veflels of 35 to i2o tons. The York, of S 50 tons, having beendeftroyed, one of the two larger fliips is for a time likely to be ufed in her llead as a Itore fliip, while the other of them may carry goods to and fr. m Sierra I.eone ; all the fmall er veffels btiing chiefly engaged in collečling produce 0:1 the African coall, which they are ordered to convey to the colony as the place of de-pofit. The Court, in the outfet of their undertaking, were led from various caufes to purchafe radier than to charter the veÜels which carried ried out f!;oo(ls for Sierra Leone : but the vaft expenfc which has been found to attend their larger (hips, has tllfinchnetl tliem from malting any further purcluifes of this fort. [t llvoukl be obierved, that the chief part of thofe heavy expenfes which have been hitherto incurred in the maintenance of the Ihipping, and which have been much enhanced by the war, though mentioned under this head, have been ftated in the accoimt as a charge on tlie Eftablilhinent of the colony, and not on the Trade of the Company. The Dire£lors however have tlie fatisfadion of knowing, that every one of their fmaller veflels has been for fome time employed in trading expeditions, and that of their two large Ihips, one is no-w engaged in trade, and the other is made ufe of at Sierra Leone both as a receptacle for goods and a proteölon to the colony. The Governor and Council have thought proper, as a lubfidiary means of fecuring a confiderable quantity of produce, to eftablilh a few fmall failories, chielly in the neighbouring rivers, which has been done at a trifling expenfe. The French Have factory at Gambia, which commanded one branch of the river Sierra Leone, being fituated a few miles above Freetown, has recently been relincpiifli-ed. Other openings of various kinds have arifen, the particulars of which the Dircitovs will not be expefled to detail; and though jiio more than a fmall quantity of African produce, produce, amounting to a few thoiirand pounds, has, for the reafons already mentioned, as yet'reached England ; yet in no rcfpečt do the Governor and Council ftate the profpetts of the Company to have more confiderably improved, than in the openings in the way of Trade which have appeared in the laft year j and efpocially in the latter part of it, when the general declenfion of the African commerce, through the failure of mercantile credit in England, was very obfervable on the coaft. The Direčlors mufl here remark, however, that they look forward to the period of the abolition of the Slave Trade, as the great sera when a confiderable commerce in African produce may be expe£i:ed to commence. When the Africans, who have been long habituated to European articles, fliall fmd that nothing will be taken in return but the produce of their land and labour, tlien this produce mufl unquellionably increafe. They already Ihew a difpofitlon to till the foil, if adequate encouragement be given them, as the fa£ls which will be cited under the head of Cultivation will fufficiently evince : and as foon as the Slave Trade fhall fail them, there is therefore the flrongeft rcafon to hope that cultivation will immediately proceed; and it is not unnatural to luppofe that thofe articles may be rali'ed, and thofe plans of induftry adopted, of which the banks of the river Sierra Leone will have fet the example. The The Dlrc£lors are not without hope that if any meafure Ihould be tiikcn by the Britifh par I lament, even for the Umitation of the Slave Trade, it may have fome fahitary efiedl in promoting African indiiftry, increafinj^ the produce to be collečled, and thus ferving tlic Company. As yet they labour under difad-vantagcs, wliich they truil: will not always be iinpofed on thofc who refufc to unite a traffic in their fellow creatures with a trade in natural produce : they alfo willingly fufFer fome prefent lofs by fiirniiliing articles rather fu-perior in quality, and fomcwhat dilferent in kind, from thofe commonly fent to Africa; and in many refpeds they have endeavoured to purify the principles of the African Trade, which they have found in general to be dreadfully coiTUpt. In particular they have re-ftrained, and in fome cafes aboliflied, though not without a tcinporary inconvenience, the cuflom of making large prefents of rum to the chiefs connečted with them. They trufl: alfo they have gone to the root of another evil, by introducing a conlideiable tjuantity of coin into the colony, and thus fub-Ilituting the plain and certain mediiini of dollars in place of the former one of bars which having been a medium of calculation that was extremely variable and confufed, and merely nominal, has occafioned much * Tlie word bar implied originally a bar of iron, which was one of the mod common articles of commerce, and might he ivorth ijbout three ftiillings fterling, trouble trouble and dlfpiitc, and given the oppor-tunitj of pračtifing perpetual frauds in the African commerce. The Direčlors have reafon on the v\rhole to hope, that they have acquired fome credit in Africa, not only by the general principles of their undertaking, but by the approved quality of their goods alfo, as well as by the fairnefs of their fervants in all their commercial tranfadions; and however flow they may have appeared in their progrefs, they truft therefore that they have laid fome foundation, on which a commercial intercourfc may advantageoufly proceed. CULTIVATION, CULTIVATION. THE fubječl: of Cultivation may be ilivided into two heads, that on the Company's own account, and that produced, or likely to be produced, either on the lands of the Nova Scotians or among the natives themfelves. It was a part of the originul plan of the Dire£l;ors, to fct on foot as foon as polfible two or three plantations on their own account, and they accordingly fent out three managers (or planters) and feveral overfeers ufed to tropical cultivation. The diftrcffes of the colony during the firft rainy feafon induced one of the planters to quit the place, an opportunity being afforded him of returning to the Weft indies j many of the overfeers died ; of the two planters that remained, one was employed for a time in preparing a cotton plantation near Freetown, but as he has returned to England, and as the land in quef-tion has been much wanted for other pur-pofes, this undertaking is fufpended for the prefent; and a few of thofe Nova Scotians whofe lots of land proved particularly barren, have now the temporary ufe of this fruitful fpot, from which crops of various articles ufeful to the colony have been raifed. Of Üt" the other plantation undertuken on the Compaiiy^s account, which is ilill fuccefsfully proceeding under the management of the remaining planter, who went out by one of the iirll fliips, the Directors propofe to ipeak. very particularly ; fmce they believe that this is the lirll experiment of the kind which has been made in Africa, and that a minute account of its progrefs may ferve to throw con-fiderable light on the queftion, whether it be practicable to cuUivate the lands of that continent Iiy means of the free hibour of its own inhabitants. When it was found that the foil around Freetown was not fo favourable to cultivation as was expedled, the planter who lias been laft alluded to, * with the fame hiudable and ardent zeal which has ever fmce dillinguiflied him, made many fucceOive expeditions both down the coa(l, along the river iide, and into the interior country, with a view of learning the quality of the foil in all the more diftant parts. He reported that he had found extremely good land on the other iidc of the river; offered, if any purchafe of it could be made, to fettle himfelf there among the natives, and to attempt, with their help alone, a regular plantation. A mile fquare of land was obtained without difficulty from the chief of that diftrid, in confideratlon of an annual rent equal to and about • Mr. James Watt, formerly mrinagcr of the Eltate of George Rofc, Efij. M, T. in Dominica. thirty thirty grumettas, or free native labourers, were got together by his afiillance. Tlie firfl work to which they were put was that of building a houfe for the manager ; they were next employed in cutting down the wood, which entirely covered the country ; and they procedeed then to lioe the ground, and to plant it with fugar cane, cotton, rice, and other vegetables. The terms of engaging them were four or five bars a month, but as the valuing of the bars proved a fource of fome altercation, the price of three dollars a month, or about 3s. 6d. a week, is now fubftituted : the labourers are alfo found with provirions, which confift of about a pint and a half of rice, together with two or three ounces of meat a piece, each day. They are called to work by the blowing of a horn, which is heard through the fmall neighbouring towns in which they reJide; and if they are on the fpot, as they ufually are, at the precife time expedted which is that of fun rife, they are then accuftomed to receive a fmall glafs of rum, which it is intended however to commute into fome trilling pecuniary allowance. They v/ork under the immediate eye of one of the better fort of natives, while the planter direčls their general operations, fees them often from his window, and walks occafionally amongil them. They go to their dinner (which is drefled for them in the manager's houfe, and is the only meal they take during their day's work) at eleven o'clock, and they return at one. They ^tiey work till fun-fet and tlien receive another finali glafs of fpirits, but they drink water only at their iiacal. Tlieir labour is thought equal to about two-tliirds of a common day's work in this country, and it is tolerably ftcady, altliough tlicy fliew no great exertion in it. Above a year has now elapfed tvitli little variation, either in the number of the labourers or in the regularity of their work, except in the Inltance of their abient-ing themfelves for a few weeks at tlie approach of the rainy feafon, in order to work at the plantations about their own towns; and it is thought tliat means may he taken for preventing even this interruption for the future. It is material to take fomc notice of the manner In whicli their wages arc fpent: when they have received their pay, which they always claim on the day after the appearance of the new moon, they fend over to Freetown to fell the dollars as they term it; the articles taken In return are for the mofl part clothing or houfehold utenfils ; for it does not appear that thofe gains which the natives ac-tjuire by regular induftry, are commonly applied to any pernicious ufe. The labourers who work In the Company's plantation may now be diftinguHhed from moft of the other natives, by fome additional articles in their drefs ; they v/ear a hat and a jacket, which the others In general do not; and they have trowfers of a better quality, being evidently difpofed dlfpofcd to copy after tlic Europeans; though it is only a fmall part of their clothing;, and ftill lefs of their houlehold furniture and mode of living, that they have as yet adopted. They arc taught to ahfhiin from work on Sundays, when tlicy attend a Nova Scotia preacher now relident among them, wlio ads alfo during the week as fchool-mafter to feveral native children. The land which they put in (cultivation the firfh year was not confidorable, having been only about hfteen acres, of which about twelve acres were planted with alternate rows of rice and cotton. A nurfery of fugar canes has been alfo fct on foot, and is, on the whole, advancing; but the ants (or bugabugs) have done much damage among them. It is fuppofed however that this obftacle to the growth of the fugar cane, will be removed, as foon as the roots of the trees which have been cut down fiiall have rotted away ; fince the ants arc faid to derive confiderable fup-port from them. The Directors have the fatisfaftion of ob-ferving, that although fome little differences may have occalionaliy arifen between the manager and the natives engaged with him, yet on the whole the Company's profpefts have much improved in that part, and many proofs have been given of the great advances that may be made in Civilization, if the pre-fent objcdt fliould be Ücadiiy puifued, and E efpecially eipecially if means fliould be found of con-iiderably extending the ikme fyRem. It has lately been difcovered, that fcveral towns adjacent to the Company's plantation are very much increafed, not only by the accefTion of thofe natives who work for the Company, but aUo of many others. It appears alfo that tlic natives arc more difpofed in general to migrate towards tlie Jidcs of the river, which heretofore have been very little peopled : a fenfe of the fecurity of their per-Ibns more and more prevails, and they arc lefs avcrlc to let the biil"h around their towns be cut down; which, familiaiifed as they have been with the idea of being furprifed and carried into llavery, they were aecuftomed always to fpeak of as a convenient flicker. The difficulty indeed of landing on the Bulam fide of the river, by kilcning the inter-courlc with Europeans, has caufcd a very vilible difference in the charafter of the natives of that di(lri£t : they arc lei's violent and lefs addidcd to litiuor than their oppoiitc neighbours, and they alio live more by their induftry. They are in general diipofed to enter into the views of the government of Sierra Leone, and I'eem very little inclined to believe thoie llave-tnulcrs, who tell them that the Company has injurious deligns againil tliem ; and one of tlicir chief men makes it Ills profeffed principle neither to lell nor to keep a (lave. A lecoiul plantation appears now to be delired by tiiem, and their King has has lately ceded another fquare mile of hmJ for that purpofe. The Dh-e£tors have further to mention Under the head of Cultivation on the Company's own account, a fmali garden of experiment in tlie neighbourhood of Freetown, which is under the eare of an able botanift. A variety of native phuits and feeds has been collečted from time to time, which are cnU tivated there with great attention; and it is hoped that feme future benefit, either to the Company or colony, as well as fome ufeful acceliion of botanical knowledge, may rcfult from the labours of this gentleman.^ The Court of Diredors have fucceeded in obtaining feveral valuable articles of tropical cultivation, through his Majefty's permilfiOU) from the royal gardens at Kew, and particularly the bread-fruit tree, which will form a very important addition to the Company's colleilion. In fpeaking of the cultivation that haa taken place lince the inftitution of the colony, through the labour that has been exerted by tlie Nova Scotians, or the natives on their own account, the Diredors are not yet able to report any confiderable progrefs. A great * I'lie DireiElors have introduced by way of Appendix, an account of the Natural ProJučlions of Sierra LetjnCj furnifhed l>y Mr. AtV.cliiis, ilveir Bot;miit. f: 2 part part of the attention and indullry of thö co-lonifts has been applied to the building of the town» of which it may not be improper in this place to enter into fome defcription. It is fituatcd on a dry and rather elevated fpot, on the fouth-fide of Sierra Leone river, iuid it occupies between feventy and eighty acres of land; its length being about one-third of a mile, and its breadth nearly the fame. It contains near four hundred houfes, each houfe having one-twelith of an acre of ground annexed to it, on which a few vegetables arc railed. The ftreetsrun, in general, from iiorth-weft to fcuth-eall, there being nine in this direction, and three crofs ftreets; and they are eighty feet wide, one only excepted, which runs within fifty feet of the river fide, and of which the width is one hundred and fixty feet. The public buildings are ahnoft all placed in the broad ftreet, and they confift of a chinxh, fituatcd near the middle of the town, which will accommodate about eight hundred people; the governor's houfe and offices j a large llore-houfe, under which as well as under the governor's houfe a brick rtore-ccllar has been bulk; a large hofpltal; and fix or eight other wooden houles, olTiccs, and Ihops, occupied by tlve Company's icrvants ; the frames of all the abovemcutioned buildings were fent out from England. Four canvas houles, or rather roams, have been alfo turniihed from hence, and one public building has been ercčled eredtcd of the common inaterials of the coun-tiy, but this is already going to decay as well as the canvas houfes ; while all the other buildings, having been erečled with care and framed of wood prepared in England, appear likely to laft for feme years. Tlie dwelling-lioufes of the fettlers, which conftitute tlie chief part of the town, were at fu-(t inferior even to the common huts of the natives, but are now far fuperior to them in every refpedl ; a few of them have been re-r paired and enlarged, but the greater part liave been pulled down (their general fcite having been changed by the government), and are now completely rebuilt. Indeed the fu-fl huts were intended by the Nova Scotians to he only temporary dwellings, and were made with very little trouble of tlie common materials of the country, confifting merely of a few ports let into the ground, the intervals between which were then wattled and plaif-tered with clay, and the thatching was of long grafs; the fize of thefe may have been on the average about eighteen feet by twelve, and the value of the labour beftowcd on each about forty (hillings. The prefent houfes of the fettlers are formed, both as to the fides and flooring (for they are all of them floored), of fuitable timber cut and framed in the country, and they are fecurcd from damp by being raifed one or two feet from the ground by means of ftoncs or blocks of wood : a number of them are E 3 already already covcrcJ with either boards or ilüngles» and It is intended to linilh them all in this manner; but tlie greater part arc thatched -with grafs for the prefeut. Only a very few of them iiave diiiniicys, but it is common neverthelcfs to burn a hre in one of tlie rooms during the rainy fcafon, the fnioke either finding its way through the thatching or pafTing out by the door and windows. The prefent houfcs arc in general from twenty to thirty feet long, and from twelve to fifteen feet wide, and they are in moft cafes divided into two rooms. The average value of the whole labour bellowed on eaeli, including the materials, may be cftimatcd at about ten pounds. Of the land immediately adjoining to the town, care has been taken to referve a portion to the Company on every fide. All this referved land, without including any of the remote parts dlredly fouth, on which fide the referved land has no other boundary than that prefcrihed In the grant of land originally made by the natives, may be computed at about two hundred acres ; part of which is the ground already fpoken of that was intended for a cotton plantation, but is now occupied by the Nova Scotians. Only a fmall proportion of thefe two hundred acres is in aČtual culdvation, but the whole of it is cleared. The healthlnefs of the fettlement has undoubtedly been much promoted by the early meafures that were taken to clear this farrounding fuiToimiling cUftričt; and the prudent refer-vation of U that has been made, may hereafter conduce to many important ends, and in particular it may afford tlic means of enlarging the town if tliere Ihould be occafion. The lots of liind which Jiave been given to the Nova Scotians lie towards the fouth-eaft of Freetown, all the weftcrn diftnQ being in the poflefTion of the natives, and the fouthern fulc being thought too mountainous and difficult of accefs to be ufed at prefent for cultivation. The nearell of the lots is about a third of a mile from the town, and the moft ditlant about tvVo miles and a (juarter; they occupy in all about four iijuare miles, or two thouiand live hundred and iixty acres, and they are cacii of them now rendered acceffi-ble by a path of ten feet broad, which has been cut with great labour and expenfe : only a few lots however, which are lituated near the town, have as yet been in any meafiire cleared of cultivated. In order to cxcite a fpirit of emulation in tilling the foil, premiums were given in the iirft year by the government to the iettlers who raifed the greateft quantity of the following articles, viz, rice, yams, plantains, eddovvs, cabbages, Indian corn, and cotton ; the whole amount of thefe premiums was about one hundred pounds. This meafurc appears to have had ib good an effe(S, that there is an intention of repeating it in the fecond feafon, making a few variations in the V, 4 maniicr manner of executing it, which the experience of the firft year has fuggefled. Concerning the progrcfs of Cultivation among the natives, it is hardly to be cxpedled that there is much as yet to be reported to the Court: indeed the fize of their plantations has commonly varied fo exceedingly from year to year, that any appearance of increafed induftry among tliem, during a fmgle feafon, ought not too confidently to be afcribed either to the new demand occafioned by the colo-nifts of Sierra I-eone, or to the Company's influence and example. The price of rice, the chief article of cultivation on the coaft, has been at fome times forty fliillings per ton, and at others no lefs than twenty-five or even thirty pounds. This variation is owing partly no doubt to the dlflerence in the fea-fons, but may reafonably be afcribed, in a very great degree, to the difficulty which the Africans find in forming any proper computation of the demand which is likely to arife for their produce; a plentiful year fometimes betraying them into a general neglečl of their plantations, and a fcarce year feldom failing, on the other hand, to producp a fuperfluous cultivation in the year immediately fucceed- ing' The eftablifiiment of a commercial failory on the coaft, whofe bufinefs it may be to form regular contrads with the natives, as 'yvell as to obferve the general extent of the cultivation, cultivation, and to make purchafes with a view to the exportation of the furplus producc, may tend perhaps to excite a more regular induftry, and to bring about, though at firft flowly and imperceptibly, "very important iitid extenfive confc(^uences, CIVILIZATION. CIVILIZATION, UNDER this head of the Report, the DlreQors will introduce a confidenihlc body of information. They will fpeak firft of the mode of government exercifed in the lettlement; and they will then give the cha-radter of the fettlers ; they will afterwards enter upon the general fubicdt of Civilization j in doing which they will dei'cril)e the mifer-ahle Hate to which it appears, from the tefti-monies afforded at Sierra Leone, that the natives of Africa have been reduced, through tlieir Intercourfc with Europeans; and the Direftors will conclude with an account of tlie fteps which have been taken by the Sierra Leone Company to introduce Chrifti-anity and Civilization among the Africans, of whofe capacity and difpofition to receive inftručtion fome very fatisfadory information will he given. The Dire^ftors have as yet received no ex-prefs powers from parliament for adminifter-ing the government of Sierra Leone: they have confidered, as they were hound to do, that the Britifii conflitution, as far as it is applicable to the circumftances of the place, is of courfc transferred thither, and that the blacks and and whites living in. the colony have an equal right to the privileges of Britifli Tuhjefts. Trial by Jury has been eftubliflied, and the Nova Scotia blacks, though poUening very little knowledge of the Britilh laws, have adlied as jurymen, one of the Company's chief fcrvants always )refKUng as the judge. The punifliments infiidled have been mikl, confilling rather in Hnes than in corporal piinifliment: the verdiiits have been in general very juft, and, on the whole, the Nova Scotians have ferved on the juries in a manner that fiiHicientiy provea the propriety and prudence of extending to them a privilege which they fo much value. It may be pre-lumed aUb, that the gradual accjuaintance with the principles of Englilh law, which the ]Nova Scotians gain in the periodical feffions of the peace, may be of ui'e in improving their minds, and may operate as a general help towards Clvilization. llie defence of the colony from external enemies is neceffarily entruftcd to the body of Nova Scotians alfo. Their arms ai'e always ready; and though their courage has not been put to any adhial trial, fmce they came to Sierra Leone, yet their alacrity in coming forward in a moment of fuppofed danger, has been experienced on more than one occaiion. Moil of them indeed bore arms in the American war, and fome have been praflifed in liring the guns, which have been mounted for the colony's defence. In In order to introduct; a fyllcm of intcrnai police, every ten houreliolders liave been in-Jirudtcd to cinile annually a tithing-nian, and every ten titliing-men a hundrcdor ; the Itiil mentioned of wliotn arc three in number, there being about three liundred houlehoklers in the colony. The hundrcdors arc eonfulted by the Governor and Council, on luch oc-cafions as concern the general intercth of the Nova Scotians. The Directors are eonvlnced, that in pro-ceednig to form any plans of government, it will be neceffaiT to coniidcr the Hate of mind of thofe who are to be governed, and a variety of local circumftances. They have hitherto advifed the Governor and Council to proceed gradually, taking experience as much as pollihle for their guide, and endeavouring to apply a remedy to every evil as it arofe, rather than to form at once any confiderable code of new local inftitutions. The Directors wifli to obferve, that in tluis touching briefly on the point of government, they have thought it fuffieient to ftate the general principles ■vvhlch have been alFumed, and the manner of trying offences and providing for the defcnce and police of the colony, which has been rcforted to up to thia period : they do not wilh at prefent to offer any opinion on thofe meafures, wliich it may be proper to give hereafter to this important fubjea, h\ 111 proceeding to fpeak of the Ante of Rd'i^ and Morals witiiin the fettlcmeiit, it is only doing jullice to the Company's fcrvants> in the firli phice, to remark, that tlielr con-clučl in general has been fobet, moral, and exemplary ; and that tlic fiiperior fcrvants efpecially, in whom the chief power is verteil, appear to have promoted the caufe of Chrif-tianity and the pračlicc of every moral duty, both by the manner in which they have excr-ciied the public trull committed to them, and by their private influence and example. On the lubjcdT: of the labors of the clergymen who went out from England, the Dirciilors tliink it their duty to obferve, that the colony has derived fcrvices highly important, in every view, from the.gentlemen who filled this part of their eftablilhment. The Directors in fpeaking fo favourably as they have done of the general morals of their own lervants, m lift of courfe be iinderilood to except all thole of whom any thing that implies a contrary character has been men-uould be fubje£t to a like confufion of ideas, and fliould feem, in the fame manner, to labour under fome dulnefs and inaccuracy of underftanding, when ading under the bias of felf-intereft. It feems proper to obferve, in addition to what has been already faid on the original condition of the Nova Scotians, that the Directors are not without reafon for fuppofing the ftate of their fervitude to have been more harfh than the American fervitude is in geny-. ral J for it llioul4 be noticed, that they form F 4 a portion a portion of thofe ilaves who, during the American war, ran away from their mafters and took refuge in the king's army ; which iC feems natnrfil to imagine that thofe would in general be the moft difpofed to do, whofe lituation was the moft hard and uncomfortable. Indeed if this prefumption of their ill treatment, arifing from the manner of their em.incipation (which is increafed by the sct count that a few of them recite of their ex-r traordinaryfuflcrings), fliould bethought unfair, and fiiould appear to derogate too much from the fiippofed mildnefs and humanity of American mailers, it feems then to follow, on the other hand, that they were thofe flaves who were the leall fenfible of the mild treatment they recclvcd, who were the leaft attached to the perfons of their mafters, and the mod pnme to he difcontentcd with their condition, On cither of thefe fuppofitions, the Nova Scotlans may be faid to furnilli a lefs favourable fpecimcn of the charadler to be expected in emancipated flavcs, than may be commonly hoped for in other cafes. It can liardly be neccfTary to obferve, how extremely unfavourable the circumftanccs through which they have paifed into a ftate of freedom will appear, if their cafe fliouId be compared with that of flaves, who might be emancipated on a prudent principle of difcrimination ; to whom liberty having been flrft held out in profpeQ, in order to prepare thcni for it," might be granted after a certain period pcnod of fervlcc, as the profelTed reward of iiuluftiy and merit ; or might perhaps be communicated by degrees, as local or other eircumltancgs might make advifeable, privilege after pi'lvilege being added, in proportion as their diligence fliould advance, as their property fhould accumulate, and their perlbnal interell in the maintenance and well-being of fociety fliould increafe. But to refume the fuhječl which occafioned this fhort digreiTioa—the Nova Scotia blacks having been born in North America of African parents or progenitors (a few only excepted ivho were imported Africans, and were chiefly kidnapped as they f^iy in their infancy), having paÜcd the principal part of their lives iu a Itate of flavery that was probably werfe than ordinary, and having then emancipated them-felves in the manner that has been mentioned, they fulfilled on their part the conditions required of them in the proclamations iifued by the Britifh commanders, having been of the number of loyallfts who joined tlie fiandard of Great Britain. Whatever education or In-flru£lion any of them have received, appears to have been ehkiiy got fince th,e xnx of their emancipation. A few of them with a part of their earnings put themfelves to fchool, with the view either of increafing their religious knowledge, or of laying the ground for fome future improvement in their condition ; and thefe are. now the preachers and fchool-irullers of the Sierra Leone colony. After palTing pafling through various fcenes, for the moll part living among the Britini folders, and following the common fortune of the army; not unfrequently expofing themfelves in battle, as the wounds of feveral will teftify, and getting credit always for their courage, but not fo uniformly for all the other parts of their charader j their numbers being now con-fiderably reduced by the death of fome and the difperfion of others (a portion of them being fuppofed to have again fallen into the hands of the Americans); the remainder were lirought to Nova Scotia at the end of the war, in order to rceeive, in common with the white loyalifts, certain allowances of provifions and portions of land, in purfuance of the promiies made to thcni in thofe proclamations, which have been already alluded to. They ftate that they obtained the rations of provifions, though not to the full extent of their expectations ; that inftead of the promifed lots of land, they got in general only a fmall town-lut of little value, the white loyalifts having engrolfed all the ground that was valuable; and that they were further difappointed in not finding themfelves admitted to the ufual privileges of Britifh fubje£ls, and in particular to the right of trial by jury. It has been already noticed, that their fenfe of thefe injuries, together with their e^špcrience of the unfavourablcnefii of the climate of Nova Scotia, induocd them to feek redrefs from the Britifli government, by means of a delegate from from tKe'ir own body, whom they fent to England for that purpofe. When Mr. Clarkfon appeared as the Company's agent in Nova Scotia, and ftated at feveral public meetings of the free blacks, the propofals held out to them I>y the Company, togetlier with the liberal offer of a free paflage to Sierra Leone made by the Britifh government, they exprefied at oncc the moft lively joy and exultation j they congratulated themfelves on being now about to be emancipated from a fituation which they had almoft confulcred as a fecond fervi-i tude, both on account of the fpecilic hard-llups already fcated, and the general difrepute and inequality of treatment which had followed them into the Britifli colony, in which they had attempted to incorporate themfelves. The eagernefs of their defire to migrate, is faid by Mr, Clarkfon, to have rendered him fo much the more careful in guartling them againft the indulgence of all unreafonble ex-peflations. No allowance even of provifions after their arrival was held out to them, and the neceflity of working on their lots of land, in order to get their livelihood, was urged upon them univerfally. But their ardour was not at all reprelTcd by thefe or any fimilar fuggcftions ; they fold haftily and without regret, at the moft inadequate prices, fuch of their little elTeČts as could not eafily be carried away witli them : a few of thofe who were polTeired of property affifted others who were in in debt, to fatisfy fuch claims as might have prevented tlicii* migration; and feveral who were the heads of fainiUes, are faid to have undertaken, for the fupport of the younger and more nnprotečled females, to whom no paflage was granted except on this condition. The whole body waited Teveral weeks in tents at Halifax, for the collection of the iliipping, during which time they were expofed to much inclemency of weather, and contraiTLcd a confiderabie degree of ficfeiefs : they let fail in the beginning of January, 1792, having readily adopted every meafurc that was fug-gefled to them for the maintenance of exadt order during the voyage, and having thus far iniiformly tefliiicd both their gratitude and obedience to Mr. Clarkfon and to the Company. Their condutH: fince tliis period has been already fuflicicntly defcribed, and the Directors think that when it is confidered in con-ncclion with all thofc circumflances of their part lives which have now been alfo mentioned, although fome of the pleafmg ex-pedations which were cxcited by a few fjrft ap]ieiiranccs may have been difappointed, their charačler may fairly be faid to turn out as favourably on the whole as could reafon-ably be expedtd. It fl^ould be noticed indeed, that among thefe emancipated Haves, there have not been wanting inftances of a, few, at leaft, who have afForded a moft favourable Ipecimen of tlic African charader, on on wliofe general tlifpofitions Chriflianiry appears to have had a moft benign and happy influence, and who have fliewn themielvcs on nil occafions humble and contented, the friends of order, and the zealous promoters of peace. Let it therefore be Carefully remembered on the one hand, that every thing which has been faid in dilparagement of the Nova Sco-tlans, is to be underftood with fome exceptions, and with various degrees of limitation : let it alfo be confidered, on the other, how great and various have been the dlfadvan-tages under which all of them have laboured ; and it will then no doubt appear, that the turbulence of fome, the unreafonablenefs as well as jealoufy of many more, and all the other unfavourable circumftances in their character, are more or lefs to be looked for in any body of men who have been in their condition. They arc faults incident to them moft unqueftionably, not as blacks, but thcv may be traced to our common nature. And who is there who will venture to fay, that if he had entered into life alfo under fimilar difadvantages, and had ftruggled under a like fucceflion of vexations, hardlhlps, and difap-pointments, his mind would not have contracted any ot the fame prejudices, nor his charačler have been marked by any of thofe untoward difpofitions, which belong to fome of the prefent colonifts of Sierra Leone ? It has been already noticed that the Governor nor and Council are endeavouring, in compliance with the wifhes of the Directors, to expedite as much as poflible the fettling of them on their own lands ; by the cultivation of which there is rcafou to think that they, like the former fcttlers now living at Granville Town, may he able to get a comfortahlc fubfiftence : and if, by the bleffing of Providence on their induftry, they Ihould find their fubftance accumulate and their general prof-perity advance, their fiimilics at the fame time continuing to increafe, it can hardly be doubted that they will thus gradually be brought to eftimate more jurtly their obligations to the Company. It is important however to obferve that, both with a view to their own Iiapjiinels and to the Company's great objc*^h of extending civilization in Africa, it is of the highell confequence that they fhould neither be left without inllru£tors from hence, nor without a government confifling of Europeans. Their children, who were about three hun-dretl in number, are univerfally fent to fchool, and are reported to advance quite as fafl in their learning as children commonly do in this country ; altliough they were not fup-plied till lately with very fuitable and fuili-cient EngliOi mafters. The Dircdors propofc to fpare no pains or expenfe that may be neceifary in order to maintain this part of their eftabliflimcnt on the bell footing, and they will continue to dire£t the peculiar attention tendon of the Governor and Council to fo very important an obječl ; for it I3 to this rifing generation of well-educated blacks, rhat the Directors chiefly look, for the gradual improvement of the internal ftate of the colony ; and to them alfo it feems by no means prefumptuous to hope, that fome of the more diftant and even of the interior parts of Africa, may one day pofTihly be indebted for the xn-trodudtion of Chriftianity, for the propogation of European knowledge, and fome important attainments in civilization. The progrefs made in the extenfion of civilization among the natives, together with the difTiculties which have occurred, and the opening profpe£ts in this refpc£l: which have been afforded, are the only part of the prefent general head that remains to be treated of. This however is a matter of fuch great importance, and of fo very interefting a nature alfo, that the Directors are perfuaded they need offer no apology for entering into it at fome length, and for laying before the Court fuch adual information as they have received upon it, with freedcMii as well as particularity. It muft be obvious to the Proprietors that, in treating of the Civilization of Africa, the nature and tendency of the prefent African Slave Trade, come diredlly and neceffarily under conüderation. The Directors however in fpeaking of the Slave Trade, do not pro-pofe to deal in obfejrvations and arguments raifed ralfed by tliemfelvcs at home on this beatcii topic; coiiceivirig tlj:it they fliall do more exait as well as ample juftlcc to the fuhječl, by reforting to a iimple narrative of wliat has been pafllüg under the view of' tticir lervants abroad, and by enumet'ating a few llfOiig but authentic facts, which it will not be nccci-fary to preface with much introdudion. They will defcribe firft, the deplorable fl:ate to which the diilrl£t arouiid Sierra Leone» previous to the formation of the colony, hact been reduced, through its intercourfe with Europeans} an intercourfe carried on up to that tune, chiefly, if not eJcclulivdy, for the' purpofe of procuring Haves.—In the fecond placc, tliey will ftate a number of more recent fafts, feme of them exhibiting the nature of the prefent Slave Trade, and the obftruc-tion which it has adually given to the Company's attempts to promote Civilization. In fpeaking of the Hrft of thefe poiiits, namely, the fituation to which the long prevalence of the Slave Trade had reduced the country round Sierra Leone, the Dlredors cannot forbear briefly recapitulating a feW fa(fts which Vv'crc recited in a former report made to the General Court, which was held nearly at the time of inftituting tlie colony. As a proof of the infecuxity of the porfons of the natives, it was then rtated, that even the king of the country himfelf, though peaceable and more than ordinarily refpcded, had in in no ids than three fcparate iuftances been bereft of ibme relations of his own, through tlie various enormities of tlie Slave Trade, in a letter fent by him to England, wherein he refers to one only of thele three calamities, he fays: " There are three dUtant relations " of mine now in the Weft Indies, carried " away by one Captain Cox, captain of a " Danifli iTiip, Corpro, Banna, and Morbour : " thefe were taken out of my river Sierra " Leone. 1 know not how to get them " back." And lie ftates his reafon for encouraging the intended Sierra Leone fettle-ment fo warmly as he did in fpite of all iniinuations to its prej'.i(Uce, to be " In order " that there might be a ftop put to the horrid " depredations that are often committed in " this country by all countries tliat come " here to trade," 1'he fubftance of this letter, which appears to have been written by the hand of a fecrctary to the king, wlio had received fome education in England, was afterwards confirmed by the king's fon. A few other fpcclHc proofs of the prevalence of kidnapping were citcd in that report, and one hißance of the capture of a ftrag-gling native by a party of kidnappers was given, of which the agent of the Sierra Leone Company, as well as another perfon then in England, had ocular dcmonftration. But the circumftance to which the Directors wilh more particularly to draw the attention of the Proprietors, is the mention G tliat that was then mack of fevcral depopulated towns along the fea coaft (two of which the Company's agent had vifited), all of them faid to have been broken up by a mulatto flave-trader refiding to the Ibuth of Sierra Leone ; who having had the advantage of other chiefs through the education he received in his youth at Liverpool, acquired a very fuperior degree of power and influence, which it appears from abundant teilimonics that he very freely exercifed. In purfuing the defcription of the eflcdts produced by the Slave Trade in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, the Diredors will quote, firft, fome authentic evidences confirming and enlarging the account of ravages committed towards the fouth, by the mulatto llave-tradcr abovementioned : they will then produce fome evidence of its nature, brought from no great diftance northwards of the fettlement; to which will be added the information of feveral very competent witnefles from the eaft or interior country ; a tew additional fadts of diifercnt kinds, fome of them furniflied at Sierra Leone itfelf, will form the remaining evidence of that deplorable fituation to which Sierra Leone and its adjoining dlftrianions with much agitation, and at length fully recognizing his countenance, fhe ran up to him and embraced him : fhe proved to be his own mother, it was learnt on incjuiry that his üuher was now dead : the parents Jiad never been able to difcover the fmallert trace of their child, whom they had given up for lolt ; nor does it appear indeed that any means of difcovety were aiforded them. The woman who Hole him remains altogether imknown, and the impunity of the captain of the Havc-ihip, even if he were known, is but too obvious; nor is it not to be fuppofed, that even if the kidnapper had been known by the child that was kidnapped, the redemption of the child from llavery, and the ronlequent puniihnient of the kidnapper, would have been at all forwarded. Having cncc once fecureJ her prey and committed it to the hold of a flave-lhip, no dilcovcry fecms after that tinie to have been polRble: ihe had nothing furtlier to fciiv, unlefs indeed fuch a ' luirnber of extraordinary events iliould concur, as that of the child's emancipating hiinfelf, in rlie hrft place, by runniaf; ivway at the peril of his life froin his niafter, that of his returning then to the very fpot in Africa from whcnce he had been taken, and laRly that of his finding Out and feiidng and giving evidence againll and convicting, the perfon wlio had fold him into Uavcry. Jn the prelent inftance, though fo very remarkable a one, only a part of theie circuniflances arc found. T he DiredorB cannot foihear obierving that ' tills incident affords an illaftratlon of the nature of the Slave T'rade, which applies equally ro the cafe of ilaves kidnapped on the coaft and of thofe taken further Inland. Having iliew'-n how Sierra Leone has had her towns laid walle, and her inhabitanta occafionally carried oft' tlirough the various enormities of the Slave Trade, on the othei' hand it may be noticed, that her mouutalm have gained an occaiional iicceffion of inhabitants through the fame unnatural trafiic ; an acceifion indeed, as the fubfequent account will flieW) of a few forlorn and mlferable beings, whom the Slave Trade has taught to take refuge in her heights, and to dread the very fight of their fellow-creatures. " About " About five or fix years ago, a Danifh " veflel lying 'it anchor in the mouth of Sierra Leone river, was cut off by the " flaves: the head-man of the neighbouring " fl^ore on which they landed, happening to favour their efcape, they made their way " to the mountains, and there they built " themfelves a town, at the fuppofed diftance " of four or five miles from Freetown, in " which they ftill refide. Their jealoufy of ftrangers is however faid to be fuch, that they do not permit them to approach, and that they even watch the avenues of their " retreat." Such is the fubftance of the intelligence on this fubječt obtained from the fon of a confiderable chief, to whom tlic Company are indebted for feveral other picces of information which have been quoted. The Directors learn from fome very recent accounts, that in confequence of the above intimation, two fervants of the Company have made an expedition to the place of reiidence of thefe people, which is termed the Deferter's Town. They fucceeded in getting into the town without any particular moleftation, and they have authenticated the chief fads which have been ftated. They learnt alio, that when this body of runaway flaves fuit eftab-liihed themfelves on the mountains, they were about one hundred in number, but that they are now reduced to about eighty, partly by deaths and partly alfo by kidnapping. Anotlier dÜtrefsful ftory refulting out of this this event vemains to be atldetl. It appears that a com])lalnt was preferred agalnft the head man wlio favoured the efcape of thefe ilaves, and the great mulatto trader already ipoken of is faid to have been the perfon before whom the queftlon was tried. It is commonly fuppoled that the complainant took the prccautioa of felling his chance of forfeiture for a moderate fum to the judge, before the trial came on: certain it is that the judgment given was, that the head-man with all his generation (that is, al! the people living in his town) flioulcl be Ibid for Haves; and many of thelc as could he caught were fold accordingly. 1 he head-man Indeed was 1 pared, after having been feme time a prifoner^ and lives at prefcnt not far from Freetown. The Direftors have now concluded that part of their information which applies to the period antecedent to the formation of the colony. They will next proceed to the relation of a number of events of a more recent date ; and they will fliew lirft, by a variety of fačts, what thofe fources have been from which the Slave Trade has been fupplied during the laft two years, fo far as refpe£ts the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone. The various evils interwoven in the trade, the private mifery which it has caufed, the drunkennefs it has introduced, and the fcenes of blood to which it has occaüonally given rife, will all all appear in the further progrefs of this detail. The firft quotation that will he given, affords an iiiftance of one of the lefs atrocious modes of reducing people to ilavery in Africn, and recites a converfation with a flave-captain. of the better fort. " February A native of fome con- " fequence applied to the governor for his " aflillance ia getting his daughter redeemed, " who had jidt been feized by a perfon to " whom tlic native owed fonie money, and " fold to a flave-ffiip lying off Freetown. The governor in conlequence went to the " ■flave-captain, and made him an offer either " of goods or money, as the price of her re" demption ; but the flave-captain refufed " to take either the one or the other, ob" ferving that ikves were now difficult to be " got, and nurfi: not eafily be parted with" He faid, that fince the girl feemed to be " a favourite, he ought, if he gave her up, ** to have by rights two fiaves in return ; " but that he would confent, however, as a " compliment to the governor, to let her be taken back-, in conlideration of her being " replaced by one prime Have. He added, *' that the father of the girl had been on board of his lliip the fame morning, in " order to fee his child, that he was prefent " at the interview, and tliat he had been much affcčtcd at the concern Ihewn on both fides ; but he remarked again that " flaves " flaves were fcarce. The governor, under " all the circumftances of the cafe, could not " interfere any firther. The father went off ** however in queft of a flave, which he " fecms not to have been able eafily to pro" cure } for he did not return till a very long time after, when the Ihip was gone." The two following ftories furnifli two nearly fimilar inftances of the mode in which the chiefs decide in fuppofed cafcvS of adultery between their wives and the inferior natives : the former cafc, in which the proceeding is more mild, defcribea the condndT: of an African chief; the latter, in which the juftice was more fummary, that of an European chief who has put on African manners. -" A native was brought to me by " one of our fchool-mafters, who implored " our protečtion, having jurt efcaped from " the hands of the chief of the neareft town " tö us, who, as he faid, had put him into " confmement and threatened to fell him, " on a charge of adultery with one of his wives, unlefs he would pay down a certain " fum, which it was out of his power to " command : the man curfed the l]ave-fa£toiy " as the caufe of all his mifery, and declared " himfelf innocent of the charge." T)ie principal point here to be noticed is, that the chief, or head-man, who threatened to fell the native, a£lcd in this cafe by his own lingle authority, and, like feveral other chiefs who will be mentioned, feems not to have H been bctfii atncftable to any fuperior oii account of the judgment he might give in tliis or any fimilar caufe, between hiiiifelf and the people of the town belonging to hiin. The cafe between the native and the Kuro-pean is as follows:—" A native of Sierra " Leone who has lived a great many years " as a grumettä, or free labourer, at a neigh" bouring European fiave-fadory, has been " fold on the ground of his having com" mltted adultery with one of the European " fIave-fa£l:or',s wives. The European flave-" fador fold liim to a flave-fhip, avowing this " to be his reafon, without even the form of a triah" Five white men, and a variety of natives alfo, are mentioned as competent wit-neffes of this circumftance, to wliich fome further reference will be made hereafter. A ftriking fpeclmen of African jultice is afforded by the follovsring fhort and apparently ■well authenticated ftory. --- " On one of the rivers neareft to us, " there is a town, where a king or chief re" fides, and where an European alfo lives who keeps a llave-faftory. The king having got drunk'one day, talked of flog" ging tlic flavc-fat"tor : the people of tlxe " king were accordingly proceeding to do it, " and would have adually fulfilled their in" tention, if the fiave-fador had not efcaped " to his own houfe and barricaded it. When " the king grew fober the fiavc-fador de-mandcd fatisliidtion ; upon which the king, " ill order to conciliate him after what had " pafled, fold him two of his people." The fubfequent quotation fiirniQics fome ftrong evidence of the very general drunken-nefs whicJi has been introduced aniong the chiefs and men of influence on the coaft : the natural alliance fublifting between drunk-ennefs and the Slave-Trade, and their mutual influence on each other, , will here alfo be again exhibited* -" Six or feven of the native chiefs, *' from all the neareft towns, came to renew " their applications for rum : their perfeve-" ranee is aflouilhing. By way of forcing " us into a compliance with their requeft, " one of tliem obfervcd, that if we would " not give him liquor he fhould apply to " the Ilave-faüory, and fliould take Iiis bro~ " ther thilher for a pawn. However, even ** this had no effect; the Governor continued " firm, and at the fame time endeavoured to " explain to them the motives of his refufal. " They tlien faid that there was no palaver " (that is, no caufe of fjuarrel) but they were evidently chagrined. Having however partaken of our dinner, they were brought " uito tolerable humour, and I am in hopes that thefe applications for rum will at " length ceafc." The following accounts are given, as to the fubftance of them, prccifely as they are related to the Directors, in whofe opinion they are too important to be withheld. H 2 "I li — " I muft menüon fonie-proceedings " of a Britlfli commander in this part, that " feem to me of a moft nefarious nature. " A number of black mariners had been hired to alTift in navigating fome French ihips trading on this coaft : lix of the fliips " have been captured, and the black failors " found on board, amounting to nineteen in " number, though they were free men, and receiving wages, have been all fold for flaves, " öne mulatto child only excepted. It is painful to wltnefs fuch horrid ačts of in" juftice. Why are not the Frcnch feamen " put up to audion in the fame ignominious " manner? Or why is this difference bc-" tween black men and white ? The cap" tured French failors were at war with us, *• and they are not fold; but the blacks arc " all fern to the flave-fatHiory and fold at public audion, together with the goods " that formed the cargo : one or two of " them were free men of this neighbourhood, " and fome of them were not only free, but they arc the fons of chiefs; one of thcni " fon of the king of Sallum. It is true the " Britilh llave-fador who bought them, was " fo good as to lay that he v.'ould forbear to lend thcin off the country, fo that theu" " friends might redeem tliein whenfoever " they thought fit to fend other flaves in " their room. I am difpofcd to believe his " profeliions, but at the fame time it is " dreadful to think of the contempt that is " here It it (C here fliewn to juftice. I would not alIo\r myfelf at firft to believe wliat I heard on this fubječt; but I faw them knocked down myfelf, at the pricc of about twenty pounds i/ • ** a piece. " Another Frencli fliip has been made a prize (by a different captor), and three or four free natives found on board have " been fold to the neighbouring flave-fadlory. " We remonftrated with the captain who took her, on the impropriety of felling free people. He admitted it, but faid he mull: " receive feme money for their ranfom, or he could not think of parting with them. " Wc upon this offered him money, but he " then iaid No, he muft have Daves in their place, as he was in want of Haves, and " that they muft be four feet four inches " high." Another inftancc is mentioned of the fale of feveral free women, who were found on board a French ihip that was captured, having having been left there as pledges. The captain of the Britifli privateer who took the fliip was formerly a flave-trader. The free Africans fold by the feveral captors of the above mentioned Frcnch veffels, were moil of them eventually redeemed, being natives of the neighbouring coaft. The captors however feem to have profited by their fale, and to have taken no part in promoting their redemption. The Direčtors by no means think that the U difguft dlfgnft which will be raifed by tbe next flory which they Iha-il recite, is a fufTicient rcafon for vvithliolding it ; efpecially as another of the foufces by which the Slave Trade is fup-plied with its vidtims, is exhibited at the end of it. —— " A grumetta, or free labourer, be" longing to an European trader a little way to the north, was accufed of theft by his " mafter. The labourer, according to the fuperftitious cuftom of the country, dc-manded to be tried by the red water ; that is, by drinking a fpccies of water fufpečled " to be poifonous, the effedt of which is fup-" pofed to determine his innocence or guilt. ** The Britifli flave-trader after fornc time confented ; the king of the country was fummoned, and made Ills appearance to" gether with all his family and attendants. " The common preliminaries being adjufted, " the poor man drank one draught of the " water, and then began to fwell ; prefently " afterwards he fell down dead, his belly " burfting. On this the king very ibleninly " pronounced feiiterice againft him, and then proceeded to condemn all his family to " ilavery. They were feized, and afterwards " fold. During the trial two men wltli clubs " flood on each fide of the accufed, in order '' to be ready to knock out his brains as foon as thole fymptoms produced by the red water, to which the natives attach guilt, f Ih'Juld appear. Tlie white flave-trader who " was " was the madcr of tiiis man, and agic<;d to " this mode of trial, is coniiclered very much " in the light of an African cliief among the " natives of this part." Four diilcreiit evi-dcuces of this are incritioncd. Although the proprietors are r^qt yet prepared, by any thing that hiis been fiiid id this Report, to credit tlie degree of Aiperftitious Ignorance in whieh the natives of Africa arc held (a fubječt which will he treated hereafter) ; yet the following anecdotc, bearing in fome nieafure on the Slave 'frade, is Iiere in^ troducfd. -" A man in a neighbouring town has " been fold a little time ago, on tlie charge " of having changed hinifclf> by the lielp " of witchcraft, into a leopard, and of having " carried off, in that fhape, fome fowla and " goats from the town of the nearell chief to ns." I'he fucceediög ftory may fervc to fliew the extreme horror which fome of the natives feel at the thought of being fent into flavery. --- '* A native employed by us as a free " mariner, went down on hoard o«r iliip " Providenec, to the river Shevbro ; happen" ing to fee fome riee come on board from " the iadlory on iliore, while lie could not " difcover that any goods were given in exchange, he was feized with a dreadful fit of terror, having taken up an idea that there was an intention to fell him for a fiave, ia barter for the goqd^ which were II 4 takeu taken Into the fhip. At the moment when " the fador from the fhore was ftepping on board, being full of this perfuafion, he drew a knife and endeavoured to ftab him, but having mifled his aim he leaped overboard. After fome difficulty he was recovered out of the water, and was afked the reafon " of his condučt, which he e:-;plaincd in the way that has been jufl mentioned. He " continued ftitl to fhew the greateft fear, " and declared he would rather die than be " fold as a flavc. As it was fufpeded that he might have a fecret defign againft his own life, his hands were bound, but in ** confequence of his earneft intreaty, and " his promife to remain quiet, they were a " little while after loofed. When midnight came on he contrived to get into a canoe " alongfide the fhip, which he cut away, and " then drifted down the ftream, till he got " to a town at the river's mouth ; here he was feized and put in irons by the natives, " hut on the captain's application to a chief *' thai is very friendly to us, he got his " liberty again. The idea of flavery having " got entire pofleflion of his brain, he foon " afterwards threw himfelf into the water, " and was given up for drowned. It proved that he once more got on fliore, and being again recovered by the Company, he was " carried back in the fliip to Freetown, " where he is now employed within the fettlement. It is thought by the phyficians " that (( Ii that tlie terror of being made a flave mud have overpowered him lo much, as to have occafioned in him fome deran[z;ement of " intelle£t, which may occafioiially return in " fomc fmall degree. He leels now very " much attached to the Company, and happy " in their fervice : his friends fay that he " never experienced tlie fmallell diforder in " Ills mind before this fright happened." The following quotations throw fome additional light on the nature of the Slave Trade, and coming from an immediate wit-nefs of the fcenes which are dcfcribed, cannot fail to interell the Proprietors. The dates of thefe fevcral occurrences were various, -" I have been to day for fome time " on hoard a large llave-fliip in the river, '' which had taken in two hundred and fifty " flaves ; the men were chained together in pairs by the hand and foot, the women " were kept apart. The young flaves ap" peared cheerful and lively, but the old ones lliewed themfelves to be much cafl down. At the approach of meal-time they " are obliged to fet up a fliout, and they are made to clap their hands for exercife, " immediately before they begin to eat. I " was preient when this was done, and could " fee lhame and indignation in the countenances of thofe who were more ad" vanced in years. One woman, who fpoke a little Englifh, begged of me to carry her back " back to Siena Leone: fiie faid that flie " was a native of the oppofitc iJiore of the ** river to Freetown, that her hulbantl had fold licr in order to pay his debts, and ^ that fhe had left a child behind her: at " the mention of the child fhe wept." ---" I xvas this moriiing again on board a flave-veffel; there was a woman on dcck who had been newly fold, and ilie I'cciiied to have been fiiedding tean;. **" i aflicd Iier the reafon of her forrow; flie " pointed to her breafts, from which the " Tuilk was Sowing, and inthnated diat Ilse " Iiad hcen tarn from her infant, while it was yet unweancd. The captain aha in-fonncd ine that this was the cafe. She was from one of the iteareft towns to us : fhe faid that ilie had been foM on accoune of her being faucy to the queea or hcad-woman in it." In wallcing through the nelgh- bouring flave-yard, I faw a man about " thirty-five years old in irons: he was a Mahometsn, and could read and write Arabic. lie was occafionally noify ; fome-" times he would ling a melancholy fong, tlien he would utter an eamell prayer, " and then perhaps for a lime he would cbferve a dead filence. I alked the reafon of this llrange conduct, and learned that " it was in confequencc of his ftrong feel" ings on his having been, juft put, lor the ** firlt time, in irons : 1 believe he h^id be- ^ gun to wear them only the day before, As we paired lie cried aloud to us, and " endeavoured to hold up his irons to our " view, which he ftruck with his hand in a " very expreffive nianner, the tear ftarting " in his eye. He fee med by his manner to " be demanding the caufe of his confme-" ment." " The captain of an American fiave-fliip " has been telling us that he loft a very fine " flave a few days ago by the fulks. 'I'he " follo\ving were his words, as nearly as I " can recollei£t.--Tlie man (he faidj was " a Mahometan, and vmcommoniy well " made, and he looked to me as if he had " been forae perfon of confequencc. When he firft came on board he was very mucli " caft down, hut on finding that I allowed him to walk at large, he got a little more " reconciled to the ihip. When the number " of my flaves grow to be fuch that I could " not let them have their liberty any longer, 1 put this man in irons like the reft, and " upon this his fpirits funk down again to fuch a degree that he never recovered it. " He complaincd of a pain at his heart, and " would not eat. The ufual mtans were tried " with him, but it feemed all in vain, for " he continued to rcjed food altogether, except when I myfclf ftood by and made " him eat. I offered him fome of the bcft " things in the fliip, and left no method un-f tried with him, for I had fet my heart on " faviuK " favlng him. I am perfuaded he wouldl " have brought me three hundrecl cloliars in " the Weft Indies ; but nothing -would fuc-" ceed. He fiiid from the firll that he was " determined to die, and accordingly fo he " did after lingering for the fpace of nine " days. I afiure you, gentlemen, I felt very " ibrry on the occafioii, for I dare fay I loll " three hundred dollars by his death, and " to fticii a man as me that is a very heavy " iois." The two following dialogues will exhibit, in a ftill ftranger point of view, the manner in which the enormities that have juil been charged on the Slave Trade are plainly ac-knovL'ledged on the coaft, and fomctimes even by the perpetrators themfelves. They will alfo tend to fliew in what maiuici' thofe Europeans who are become familiar with the iniquitous fcencs commonly going on in Africa, have been brought to tolerate thcni in their minds, and to accommodate their feelings to them ; how completely they have loll fight of every real principle of juftice, and have learnt to fubllitute a morality of their own, to which they attach a certain degree of credit, which however evidently amounts to nothing higher than a difavowal of fome horrible enormities, and is in fa«lt pnly a more deliberate and effedual fyftem ^f injuftice, cruelty, and oppreffion. " The following is the fubftance of a con" verfation which I have been holding with ' ................" a.Et " an Englifh flave-faäor, who has been living " for fome years a little way to the fouth, and has had full opportunity of acquainting " himfelf with all the pračiices of the Slave " Trade, The flave-fador having fpoken of the late mulatto trader (the fame perfon of whofe ravages the Proprietors have " heard fo much) in rather ftrong and favourable terms, having mentioned him as a very gentleman-like, well-educated, fen" fible, and refpcdable kind of man, I vi^as " induced to afk, in the progrefs of the con-verfation, whether he had not been guilty of many excefles all around his own neigh" bourhood."- " ExcefiTea ! No. He " would make war fometimes on the hcad-" men that owed him money, and would fell fome of their people in order to pay himfelf, if he could catch them ; but this was only when he had fome juft debts that were uniiitisficd : or he might perhaps " carry off the inhabitants of a town, w^hen the king or father of it gave him per-miflion, he having firfl bought from the " king an exprefs authority to take them. He was a good man on the whole, and a man of bumanily ; for he by no means flied all the blood he might, nor did he always fell every one of thofe he had a right to " fell. For inftance, there is the chief novf " living near Freetown, who was adjudged " to be his property as well as all his generation ; but the cliief himfelf h;is never " yet " yet been fold, which is to be looked upon " as a mere adi of forbearance in the mulatto " trader ; I confider the ientence however to " be ftlll In force againft him."-" Did " not tlie mulatto trader order an attack on the neighbouring ifland, on which occaiion " the proprietor of it was killed in defending " himlclf; and is it not confidered by the " lurviving friends of tlie proprietor that this " attack was an ad: of great injuftice -^ " The proprietor "vvell deferved to be at" tacked, for there is reafou to think he was " at that very time intending to attack the " mulatto trader."-" I underlland that " this affair is by no means over, and that " the fncceflbrs of this proprietor intend to " retaliate on the fuccelfors of the mulatto " chief, when they have an opportunity."— " I believe they do, but it ill becomes them to call in queftion the condudt of the " mulatto chief, for they ihould confider how " much worfe things their own father uled ** to do. I will give you a fpecimen of Im " proceedings. The old man lias been known '' to fail up a river with forae large craft fol-" lowing him, and to land at a confiderable " town under a great fliew of friendfliip. " Having called the head-men and all the people together, he has made them a ipeech, remarking how very ihamefully they had been ufed by all former tradenr, and alluring them that he was come to do them good, and to trade fairly with them ss whht n Vrilh frienils antl brothers. He lias hc^t " told them, that» as a proof of his friend-fliip, he has broiight a puncheon or two " of rum with him, which he has then opened and invited them to fu round aju! " drink. On the approach of night, \vhe]> he has got them, thoroughly intoxlcatfi), " he has given the fignal to his people in the " craft, who have come up and fecurcd all " the party in fetters and carried thcin down " to the river's mouth, where he has fold every one of them that was worth piu-" chafmg, to fome flave-fliip that was all the: " while in waiting. Many other things of this kind ufed to be done by this old pro" prietor. But a:- to the mulatto trader, he " never did iuch things as thefe ; he woulJ never ufe treachery, neither would he attack a town without having reafoii for ** it; but the other man ufed to plunder " without diitindion."-Docs the fuc- " celTor of the mulatto trader take the fame " means of recovering debts as his prede" ceifor did ?"-" No, he is too ea/y."- Is it not an inipleafaiit tJiing to carry on -a trade fo full of enormities as you defcribe the Slave Trade to be?"-" It is no doubt a bad trade, but it is very profitable. 1 hate it, and would get out of it to-mor-" row if I kaevsr of another luie in which I " cotdd get the fame money." The converlation that follows, though not altogether unlike the former in its Jlile, refers to « ti to fome different points, and Is one of A much more fhamelefs kind. It occurred with a flave-captain on the coaft, of whom however it fliould he ohferved that he certainly lurpafTes moft of his ijrcthren in effrontery and cruelty of difpofition. The effeds produced hy the Slave Trade on the minds of Europeans, which nothing can ihew more clearly than the recital of thele dialogues, conftitute a confideration of fuch great importance in the opinion of the Direčlors, as to outweigh every obječtion to the quotation of them. ■-" A Jlave-veffel, which has been " waiting fome time in the neighbouring river for her loading of Haves, arrived ** here. The captain has been complaining " Inttcrly of his tedious detention, and in " the courfe of the converlation he -went the " length of obferving, that if he had been " well manned he would not have allowed " the trader with whom he had been deal" ing, to detain him as he had done. For " (laid he) there was a large town diredly " oppofite the place where my veffel lay, " and if my hands on board had been fuf-" iicient I would have carried off fome of " the people, 1 alked him, whether taking " away the people, in that manner, was a " common thing: O not at all uncommon (replied he) we do thefe things every day " on the Gold Coaft, w^e call it pcuiyartng. If a niUive in that part is not fo fpcedy as " he ti << lie fliould be in his payments, yoü man your boats towards the dufk of the evening, and bid your failors go up to any town that is rather near, where they catch as many people as they can, no mr.tter whether it be your debtor's town or not. " It" your debt be large, it may be necelFary to catch two towns; after this, your " debtor will very foon complete his number " of flaves."-" But what if he flioukl " not -" Why then we carry our prifoners away, to be fure."-" But is this proper ?"-" Necelllty has no law ; befides, panyarlng is country law."-— Did you ever recover debts in this man- iiei-?"-" Aye, many a time, and I hope to do fo again : I wUh we had the fame law here that they have on the Gold " Coaft, or that the old mulatto trader was ** alive ; he was a ilne fellow to do bufinel's " with, he would never caiife any delay to ** any one. But as to the prefent man he is " afraid to make a haul of the people, as the " man before him ufed to do: be wants a proper fpirit."-1 alTced him afterwards how he contrived with his llender crew " to keep a proper guard over his Haves. I take good care, faid he, that they never " fliall do me an injury, for I put them all " in leg-irons. And if leg-irons be not " enough, why then I handcuff them. If *• handcuffs are too little, I pat a collar round their neck, with a chain fallened I 10 *c to it, which is locked to a nngholt In the " deck. If one chain be not iufficient, 1 " put two, and if two wont do, I put three : ** you may truft me for that." " Towards the end of our converfation, " he very gravely afTuied me that he had " never known any afts of cruelty committed in the Slave Trade."-" But are not thefe things cruelties ?"-" O no, thefe *• are not cruelties, they arc matters of " courfe ; there is no carrying on the trade " without fuch things as thefe." That tlie Slave Trade has not iinfrequently IfTued in the fudden deftručlion of thofe immediately engaged in it, and that no fe-verities can operate to the certain prevention of thefe dreadful evils, the following accounts of the cutting off of flave-fliips, which have all been furnifhed from the neighhourhood of Sierra Leone, and are moft of tliem very rccent cafes, will fufficicntly teftify. I have juft heard that an Ameri- can l)rig, commanded by Captain who I underftand was outlawed in England, has been cut off by the flaves, ieven or eight leagues to the northward of Cape Sierra Leone. A fmgle ilave having anned himfelf with an axe began the attack, ruflicd into the cabin, and laid open the cajitüin's face and breaft; he alfo wounded a paßenger who was on board very fe-vcre'.v ; as the feamcn made no refinance " thev ** they were permitted to go off. in the boat, " carrying the wounded people away with " tliem. The captain died. The flave-fliip " was retaken by a Liverpool vefTel, after " an eiicountcr in which fome of the flaves were killed." The following account of a very dcfperate struggle on board a llave-fliip, forms part of a confiderable detail of occurrences which do not altogether hear on the prefent fubjed. It is hut candid to obferve that the w^ar which will here be fpoken of, a war indeed of a moft extraordinary and perhaps unprecedented kind, appears in no refpečt to have arilen out of the Slave Trade. The dangers attending this traffic arc however ftrongly evinced by the flory which will be given. -- " I have got confiderable light " into the hlftory of Mahady, the famous " Milhometan prophet, who appeared in " thefe parts with .in irnmenfe concourfe of " followers, about three years ago. When he was killed, fome of his generals contended together for the maftcry, and one of them was made a prllbt;er of war by his antagonill, who immediately fold him to a French flavc-lliip that was lying off a failory not far from Sierra Leone. There he carried himfelf with a füllen dignity, and, even in chains, he would addrefs bis fellow Haves in his accuftomed tone of authority and command, as if he were hill a man whom no one would dare to 12 " difobey ody of men, the Chief and hia people fled ; the town was plinidered and let on fire ; the llave-fador liowever, and the party with him from the King's Ihip, returning in the duik of the evening, were fuddenly attacked by a dif-cliarge of mufquetry from among the buflies, and an engagement enfiied, in wliich fome natives are laid to have fallen on the one iidc, and the ilrd: lieutenant of the man of war and a ferjeant of marines were killed on the other, a few alio being llightly wounded. <)ne conCequence of the llaughter that happened among the natives on this occaiion, wa^, that the Cliicf ulcd afterwards frequently to vuw, that he muH now retaliate again for the the further lofs of people that he had fiif-tained ; happily, however, the flave-faftor, againil whole perfon his rage was principally direčled, foon afterwards quitted the coart. This fcene of outrage produced, as it happened, no great mifchief or inconvenience to the flave-fadtory, which is fituated at fome tliftance on an ifland in the river, and is aHo well fortified; hut its conlccjuenccs were fatal to the neighbouring and unprotefted fettle-ment of free blacks. A palaver or council was called of all the furrounding Chiefs, who following the African cuftoni of diredliag their vengeance for every inlichief done to them, againft any perfons guilty or not guilty, whom they have witliin their power, and whom they imagine in tlie fmallefl degree connected with the authors of the injury ; and having heard that in this cafe two individuals from the neighbouring colony were among the hoftile party, determintd that the whole town of the free fettlers Ihould he burned. The fentcnce was executed witliin three days, and the fettlers were diiperl'ed. It is hut doing juftice to the flave-fattory to obferve, that it afforded a temporary piu-teiSion and fupport to feveral of the fettlers, during the firil prelfure of their lUftrel's. The ftory that has now been recited de-ferves notice, not only as affording an explanation of the immediate eaufe of the dif-perfion of the hrft colony which went from hence to Sierra Leone, but as a i'pecinien alfo of cf one of the kinds of clanger to which every body of new fcttlers in Africa mufi: necdrarily he more or lefs expoied, fo long as the SLivc Trade is carrying on all aroimcl tiicm. The events which happened in tills cafe were none of them ftrange or extraordinary. An outrage is committed or fuppofed to be committed by a flave-captiiin, in the procuring of Jlaves ; a blind and bloody a6t of vengeance on the part of the natives follows; the ncigli-bouring flave-fatflory interieres, and the little adjoining fettlemcnt is involved in the con-fequencc.-i of the quarrel. All thefc are accidents which belong to the very nature of the Slave Trade ; they grow out of ita ordinary enormities, they luit witli its ferocious fpirit, and accord with its principles of in-juftlce: for the indifcriniinatc fcizure of each others perfons, is the very leflbn which is daily tiiugiit tlie Africans by the European fadtorSj who blame no violence, revenge no injury, and difcourage no atrocity that tends to the extenfion of their own traffic; and Vi'ho, lb far as the Directors arc informed, are not accurtonied to decline buving any man for a ilave, on the ground of his having been nnjufdy brought Into captivity. Indeed more than one indance might eaiily be pointed out, as the Dircdora conceive, in which the fame i!ave-j-a£!:ory vvhicii became the admiui-flrator of jullice upon this occalion, has pur-chafed Africans, knowing them at the time of purchafe to be free men, knowing alfo that tlie the individual who ofiered them for fale, had himfelf fcized them unjuftly, and had no fliadow of right to fell them. Nor do the Direčlors mention this by way of carting particular reflections on any individual fiave-fattory; for they helieve that the other flave-factories in Africa follow the fame cuftom, each thinking it perhai>6 a fufficient juftifi-cation to plead, that if it fliould he fo fmgular as to decline making thefe piirchafes, other flave-fadtories would feel no fuch fcruples ; or even if they did, that the captains of the fhlps themfelves, without the intervention of a fadloiy, would purchafc and carry off the people who might have been rejedcd. And indeed it is reafonable to fuppofe, that the (lave-faftors on the coaft cannot be altogether infenfible of the very important diminution which might eventually be made in their trade, if the principle of inquiring into the mode of procuring the Haves fold to them, and of refufing thofe who might appear to have a juil title to their freedom, fliould' be once in any degree admitted. But whatever be the ground, on which the encouragement evidently given to the commilhon of outrages on the pcribns of the natives, may be juRified in the imagination of the flave-dealers, it L^ furely uot to be wondered at, if either they themielves, or white men vifiting the coaft, or any nciglibouriug iettlement luppofed to be conncdcd with Europe, fliould occafionally feci feel the efieQs of the difFulion of thefe prlil-ctples of injuftice. The Court having heard the cii'cumftances which caufed tiie dilperlion of the firll coloiiy, will not be furpriJed if the Direčtors, anxious to provide againft a return of the Jlirae danger, Ihould liave felt that eager defire which has been ftatcd in an early part of this Report, to enlarge the number of colonics, and ihoultl have urged on the Proprietors, as they did, the importance of forming at once a ilrong and lefpečlable eftabliihmcnt. Another evidence of the danger arifing from tlie blave Trade to the pcrfonal fecurlty of any neighliouring coloniils, is afi'orded by the following ftory : Some time before the eftLiblifliment of the prefent Company, a Brltifli Have-trader who lived then in Sierra Leone river, but is lately removed, I'eized live free blacks (part of the colony from England which has been lately ipoken of) j unifying this violence on the ground of his having been wronged by one individual of their body, fomevvhere at a dif-taiice on the coail, where he w^as employed in navigating a vefTei belonging to this llave-facTtor. The country law warranted, as the fador faid, this mode of rcdrelling the grievance, and he feems therefore to have taken the iirft five fettlers he could meet whh. H,c was induced, however, after fome time, to releaic releafe three of tliem gratultoufly, the two remaining prlfoners being thought on con-fidcration to afford that recoinpence for his lofs, which was fit and proper on the common principles of African juftice. Thefe two men, w]io were admitted to have no connection with the defaulter, nor any means of catching him, he having run away from the ihip when at the diftance of fome hundred miles from the fettlcmcnt, and whofe only crime was that they had formerly lived in the fame town with him, were kept by this Britifh flave-trader iome time in chains, and then fold and put by him on board a llave-fhip that was on the point of failing; when a Mahometan chief, who happened to come from the interior country, took com-paffion on their cafc, and, having advanced out of his own pocket about fifty pounds ftcr-ling for their redemption, releafed them and fent them home. The fame chief lately fell into fome diftrcfi'es himfelf, and being in debt to one of the factories, was deprived of a favourite free boy, whom he had fent with a meflage to the factor, the boy being i'eizcd for the fatisfaftion of the debt. The chief, lialf diftračted at the lofs, camc down to Sierra Leone, and endeavoured in vain to trace the child from fadory to factory: at length he called at Freetown, mentioned hi* prcfent poverty, and the aflliition which had brouf^ht him down to the coaft, and modeftly afked to have the fifty pounds reftored to him K' which which he had formerly paid for the redemption of fome of tlic freemen of Granville Town, and had never claimed before. The Direčlors have mentioned all thefe circum-ftances together and in this place, though part of them miglit have been clafled vv^itl» the incidents enumerated fome time fmce, becaufe they wilh to remark that the Governor and Council were led very carefully to inveftigate the whole of this interefting cafe ; ftnd they found from different concurring cir-cumftances, that the main fads were precifely as has been üated. The fifty pounds were paid back to the chief by the Company, in conicquence of this inveftigation. The Directors have I'cafon to think that fcveral others of this firfl unproledcd body of fettlers have been fold from time to time, and adlually carried off the coaft. One is believed to have been kidnapped by a neighbouring black llave-trader ; and an inftance has occurred of another liaving turned kidnapper himfelf; the natives whom lie had feized and fold were however recovered, through the intervention of the Company, and the kidnapper was corporally puniflied. Some are alio iaid to have been ibid for. crimes charged againfl: them. All thefe incidents however, the detečlion and punilli-ment of the individual who turned kidnapper alone excepted, happened antecedently to the formation of the prefent colony. The Proprietors, after all the evldcncc that has has been given, will not be furpnfed if the infecurity of travellers, and the prevention of a free communication virith the interior country, fhould be fpoken of as another hindrance to the views of the Company. The mention of this point, indeed, opens a wide field for refledtion. It has appeared from many recent inveftigations, that the natives of Africa who live towards the coaft, are far more barbarous than thofe of the interior Country ; and that while the population to-vrards the fea is extremely thin, and the little intercourfe that fiibilfts in this part dangerous, there are to be found, on advancing further inland, many towns of confiderable magnitude ; fome of which, lying in the very heart of Africa, are fuppofed to carry on much internal trade, and even to have made no fmall progrefs in Civilization. Whether, therefore, the immediate interefts of the Company, or the general benefit both of Africa and Europe, be contemplated, the opening of fome connexion with the interior of this vail: continent, naturally prefents itfelf to the mind as a mofl defirable obječt. But here again the Slave Trade exerts its baneful ihHiience. That general infecurity of pcrfons which re-fults from it; that diffolution of all government which it has caufed on many parts of the coall; that drunkcnnefs which it has introduced among tlie native kings and chiefs; hut, above all, perhaps, the dread of fecret machinations from the flave-traders them-K 2 felve^ felves, who by means of a chain of fadones have a coniiderable influence in the interior, and may be confidered alfo as holding the key of Africa in their hands, by poffeffing almofl: the entire empire of the coaft—all thefe circumftances form, unqueftionably, a very formidable hindrance in the way of every liberal and benevolent attempt to extend difcoveries in Africa, with the view of ultimately fetting on foot fome peaceful and mutually advantageous intercourfe with the natives of the interior parts. The Proprietors are already informed that an attempt to penetrate into the countr)' furrounding Sierra Leone, was made by the Company's mineralogift, in the very infancy of the colony. He was a perfon who to fome impatience of fpirit, joined a very ardent mind, a love of general knowledge, and great per-fonal refpeüability, as well as experience in his profeflion. He went from England for the purpofe of extending his difcoveries, having voluntarily offered his fervices to the Company, taking no falary, but limply ftipu-lating, that if any profits fliould arifc from his profelfional refearches, he ihould have the lhare which mineralogies arc commonly allowed, and that the expenfes of his paffage and living at i^ierra Leone ihould be borne by the Company. I'his full of the adventurers from Sierra Leone on a journey of difcovery, was attacked and plundered of all his goods, as was before Hated, by a native chief, chief, and was obliged to return In fo deplorable a condition, that he appears to hav& died of the vexations and hardlhips he encountered. It would not liave been unreafon-able to fufpečt that the Slave Trade might have imparted fome of its ferocity to this chief, even if no evidence of a pofitive con-nedtion between him and the flave-traders had been furnifhed. It has however happened, that a fubfeqnent attack on another iervant of the Company has been made by the fame chief, at the iaftigation, as the Direčtors are informed, of a French flave-trader ; who reprefented to him and his people, tliat a fhip of the Sierra Leone Company trading in this river, had been equipped for the purpofe of making war on all the French flave-fačlors living in his territories. On the arrival of the Company's veflel, the natives were alarmed ; but the peaceable demeanor of the captain, who merely went up to buy fome rice in the principal town, foon allayed their fears. The chief however meeting with the Captain while he was tlius employed, and being very drunk at the time, was induced to make an aflault upon him. The people aggravated the infult, tore the clothes from the captain's back, dragged him to another town about two miles oft', and there kept him pri-foner. When the chief grew fober, he began to refleO: on what he had done, ordered the prifoner to be fet free, and made him fome K 3 prefents prcfcnts by way of compenfation for the inlult. The Direöors will not add, in this place, any mcrre obfenatlons on the hindrances which the Slave Trade has given to the Company, as the fame general lubje£l will necef-iarily recur again, in fpeaking of the fteps that have been taken to promote Civilization. Yet before they difmifs the topic of the Slave Trade, they propofe in confequence of its very great importance, briefly to recapitulate fome of the leading circumÜances vv hich have been Hated. It appears then, that the chief fources of the Slave Trade are debts, wars, crimes, and kidnapping. When debts are ftated to be one of the fources of ilavery, there may feein nothing on the firR view very dreadful in the idea; but let the fačts which have been mentioned on this fubječt be put together, and they will be found to exhibit fuch a fyflem of wickcdnefs, and fuch a fccne of accumulated Tnifery, as would by no means have prefented itfelf to the mind, on a flight inveftigation. Jn the firfl: place it may be obferved, from the concurrent teftimonies which have been given, that if an African contrads a debt, it is not the debtor himfelf that is commonly fold for the difcharge of it; an innocent per-fon almoft always pays the penalty: a wife, or a child, or fome other near connedion of the debtor, or perhaps fome native refldent in hiä his town, or fome flranger who hat! fought proteöion there, is the perfon that is carried off by the flave-tratier. (^) Oa one occafion, as it has been Hiewn, a child is torn away from its father hy a debtor, and the (lavs-captain fails away with it before the parent can bring the prime flavc demanded as a fub-ftitute. (^) In another inftance, a wife Is fold by her hulTjand on accotint of a debt, and is feen weeping in the fiave-fliip, having alfo left a young child behind her. (f) In a third cafe, a favourite free-boy having come down to the coafl with a meflage, is fcized for the debt of his principal ; and he alfo is fent from Africa, before any opportunity is afforded for Iiis redemption. (is tuVn ; and further vidims are thus furnlflied ca each ildc to the Slave Trade. Some of thefc petty wars feem eminently produdlive to tlie traders ; " (/) the chief of Quiaport attacks the chief of Bourah, and fends to the llavc-fadory many prifoners. The " chief of Bourah gathers ali his ftrength, " and is put under the necefTity of fcizing " double the number from his antagonift • " for he is not allowed to redeem his own " people, except by paying /^vo for one^ Nor are thcfe fmaller wars among the inferior chiefs tlic only wars produktive of flaver)'. There is not one great nation in the neighbourhood of Sierra I.eone which has not been rcprcfented, by credible witnefles, as being induced to go to war by the Slave Trade. {m) 1 he female mulatto acknowledges, that when there is no demand for (laves, then there art^ no wars in the Mandingo country. " (//) 1 he l ouiahs, fays another evidence, " are pcrleclly well known to go to war fpr (./) See pngc 103. (/«) p. 104. (b) p. 103, the the fole purpofc of procuring flaves. Tlie people dlredly inland, adds another chief, go to war for flaves ; our country bchig however now very much depopuT lated, and the palfage of the llavcs from the remote parts being hindered by the " wars, the llavc-fatltories have lately en--deavourcd to make up our quarrels, and " the adjacent country to Sierra Leone, ** begins now to be at peacc.'* Crimes real or imputed form another prin-r cipal ground on which perfons are condemned to flavery : adultery is one of the higheft : a native (o) chief in one cafe, and an European {p ) chief in another, fells an inferior African on a charge of this fort; but in each inftance the chief adts on no other authority than his own will, and evidently gets the emolument arifing from the condemnation to himfelf. And here alfo let the drunkennefs and depravity of the African (f^) chiefs, who are thus judges in their own caufe, be confidered ; let the polygamy prevailing in Africa be taken into the account; nor let the jobfervation of a native trader be forgotten, " (r) that it is common for chiefs when they " want goods, to give a hint to one of their «• wives, to encourage adultery in the lov/er natives." The other charges of criminality, which have been mentioned as fources of flavery, have been many of them fo flight, £0 p 114. if) Ibid. (f) p. 115. (r) p. 107- and and accompanied with fuch indications of partiality and injufticc on tlie p:irt of ilic judges, that the decilions aggravate the general horror excited by the comtemplation of this traffick. A whole town is doomed to llavcry, the chief alone (j) excepted, for the crime of letting feme runaway (laves pafs through their diftritt to the mountains. A woman from the next town is torn from her child (/) and fold, tlie milk Hill flowing from her breart, merely as it ieems for ithng impertinent language. {«) Two men are fold by a chief after a fit of intoxication, in order to make compenfation to a flave-tradev whom he had infulted in his dnmkennefs. (x) One man ia fold on a cliarge of having changed himlelf into a leopard, (y) The whole family of another poor wretch who had been put to death by red water, on a fufpicion of theft, is fold on account of his fup-pofed offence, (s) The remarkable circiim-itance of the mulatto flave-trader's fetting up a llave to be a judge over his diflričt, the growing power of this judge, the court paid to him by the flave-traders, and the dread of coming near him, inftanced in the condučl of one of the natives, are alio to be remembered. The remaining fource of ilavery is kidnapping, of which numerous inftances were given, (c?) One of the Nova Scotians declares himfelf to have been formerly kidnapped from Sierra (j) Seepage 110. (t) p. iz2. {«) p. iis- (jr) p. 119, Ü) P- «'8. («) p. 101. (0) p. loS. Leone, Leone, by a woman, and foon after his landing he is recognized by his parents, (b) Relations of the King of Sierra Leone are carried off, at three different times, by kidnappers, (f) The Company's agent falls in with a party of natives, who are fecn in the very a£t of kidnapping. [d) A free fettler from England is kidnapped by a neighbouring flavc - trader, (e) Another free fettler turns kidnapper him-ielf, but is detected *I)y the Governor and Co\incil, and receives the punifhment which he deferves. No lefs than three caies occur in which Britilh commanders are Infečled with the common contagion, and come under the denomination of kidnappers, fmce they fell without fcruple the free mariners found on board the French fhips which they had captured. {/) In one of thefe inftances nineteen freemen are folJ, many of them the fens of chiefs, {g) In a fecond, three or four others, in fpite of the itrongert remonftrances of the Sierra Leone government, [h) In a third, four women, who had been left on board a captured fhip as pawns. (/) The numbers in the Ueferter's town are confiderably reduced, partly by kidnapping. In all the neighbouring countries alfo, kidnapping is declared by many witncfles to abound, {k) Free-hooters, fays one, infeft the parts lying between the (i) See page 97. (f) p. 98. (d) p. 14Ö. («) Ibid. (/) p. 116. (g) P- 1'7. (i) Ibid. (;•) p. ui. p. 10^. coafl: cotift and the Foulah country ; fo that the man who brings down flaves to the lea fide is often kidnapped himfelf on his return home, and ibid to the fame fadory, to whom he had been felling others. In the (/) Sufee country^ fays anotlier, kidnapping is frequent. In the Mandingo country mothers tare not truft their children out of their fight after fun fet, for fear of the kidnappers. The reafon of its general prevalence is obvious: (m) debts, as was before obferved, produce kidnapping : the impunity of the crime, through the facility of difpofmg of the vičlims, produces kidnapping. Wars alfo produce kidnapping: " {?/) I " myfclf, fays one chief, ufed during a five " years war to waylay and kidnap pailengcrs; but this I own was a bad thing, juilified " only by the neceflity I was under of having fome thing to give to the fiave fačtorles, for " the purchale of more ammunition." To all thefe inftances are to be added the more than ordinary ravages afcribed to the Proprietor of a neighbouring iftand, (o) who made it his practice to fweep away the inhabitants of whole towns by treachery, when he had made them intoxicated, and of whom even the fiave-faftor complained that he ufed to ravage without diftindVion. Thele are the four fources from which the flaves furnifhed from the neighbourliood of Sierra Leone appear to have been fupplied j (/) Seepage 104. («) p. ill. (n) p. 106. (a) p. 117. nor nor do die Dlredors conceive that any con-fiderable number can have been obtained from thelc parts by any lels exceptionable means» Indeed it is reafonable to preiiune that a multitude of atrocious a£ts htive happened at Sierra Leone, hi confequctice of the Üave-trade, which have been perjietrated in iccret, or kept back at leafl from the view of the Sierra Leone Cqmpany's agents. The preceding accouat refpečls indeed tliofe flaves only who have been furriilhed from the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, and not the general body of flaves fold in Sierra J^cone river, of whom much the greater jurt are brought down from the Interior country. The Diredors conceive, however, that no one can have any right to ailinne that the cafe of in-hind flaves differs efTentially from that of Haves taken on the Coail: the injuftice and treachery pra£tifed in taking them, and the fcenes of private wretchednefs reiulting from their captivity, can hardly fall to be Tome what fmiilar, in whatever part of Africa the fcene be laid In which the cafes happen. IjCt then the whole aggregate of mift-ry cauled by the Slave Trade be contemplated ; jet it be remembered that wliat has been de-fcribed is but a fample of the manner in which EIGHTY thousand men are annually carried off from Africa, by the civllizcd nations of the world, and more efpecially by Great Britain ; let all the VLirlety of incidental cnor- mitie'. mities which have been ftated be brought to Tecolle£lton ; let the blood fpllt in {/) wars, let the cutting oft'of Have fhips, let the afbs of filicide reforted to by tlie captives on fhip-boai'd, and of wild and bloody (r) vengeance, by the incenfcd natives on the fhore, of which a few fpecimens only have been given, be borne in mind. Let all the moral evil chargeable on this trade be duly confidered ; let the drunkennefs, the treachery, the violation of all the natural feelings, through the felling of wives and children in difcharge of debts or in exchange for liquor, let the depraved habits commimicated as by contagion to {s) Britifli captains, failors, and {tj fadlors on the Cöaft, and the enormous cruelties to which feme of them have been tranfported, be recollefted ; above all, let the ftop put to the Civilization of one fourth part of the habitable globe, and the guilt of hindering that light of revelation which has fo long fhone on Britain, from finning on the innumerable tribes who inhabit the interior of that vaft continent, be added to tlie account; and on tlie other hand, let the prefent mlferies of Africa be con-trad ed with the blellings which might have refulted from a contrary conduft on the part of Circat Britain ; from the iutrodudlion of Chriftianlty, from the communication of European knowledge, and from that promotion of Seepage 106. [j) p. 130. (0 p. 14'- (^) p. 129. (r) p. 136. induflry. uiduflry, which is the fure refLiIt of an honed", innocent, and peaceful commerce.—Let all tliefe confiderations 1)C put together, and the evil of the Slave Trade will appear indeed enormous ; its hindrance to Civilization, and. Its hoftility to every principle that is profelFed hy the Sierra Leone Company, become abundantly evident; and the opening prolpcčls of Civilization which are about to be llatcd will be feen to be important, not only in refpe£t to their immediate conl'equences, but on account of their furniihinj^ alio the moft latis-fa<£tory cvitlencc of tJie pradlicability of reverfing that cruel fyftem which as yet prevails Africa, and a favourable omen of an approaching change in the general condition of that hitherto unhappy Continent. The I'ubverfion of the iniquitous trade in flaves was one of the nTOtives which led to the inflitution of the Sierra I.eone Company ; and it is one of the objedls to which thofe who have the management of its affairs, profefs tliat their beil endeavours fliall be direfted: they truft, however, that they fliall not allow their deteftation of the trade to excite in them any perfonal ill-will towards the individuals engaged in it; and they feel a peculiar fatlsfačtion in obferving, that their government abroad, however their zeal in the caufe of its abolition may have been excited by the fcenes which they have wltneffed, have at no time reforted either to any violent or underhand means of forwarding this ohjcä ; having L ' neither neither interrupted the Have-tradcrs forcibly themielves, nor endeavoured to hritate either the natives or the Nova Scotlans againft them. It may be proper to add, that they have been far from encouraging any failors who thought themfelves cruelly ufed by their captains, or any flaves belonging to the fliips, or to the factories, to run away to their fettlemcnt. Indeed, it is due to the Governor and Council to mention that they have adted with a peculiar degree of temper and moderation, on feme trying occafions ; labouring to compofc differences, to promote harmony and peace, and to prevent all private a£ts of vengeance. They have alfo made a point of excrcifing equal juftice towards the flave-traders, and liave given proofs of humanity and kindnels towards them. In particular, they have received and entertained the fick Europeans from the llave-lhips, many of whom having been attracted to Freetown by the known falu-brity of the air, or the expeiStatiou of getting good medical advice, have either been lodged in the houfes of fome of tlie fettlers at the Company's expenfe, or gratuitoully received into the public hofpita!. As an inftancc of tlie impartiality of tlie Governor and Council, it may he obferved, that a complaint of ill ufage having been made againft: fome of the natives, by the fame flave-captain whofe enormous cruelties on Ihip-board, as well as cuftom of fetzing the natives on ihore, have appeared from a con- verfation verfatlon held with this perfon himfdf, which has been recited, the Governor and Council exerted their influence with the neighbouring head-man, to obtain a hearing of the cafe ; in confequence of which the natives charged with having committed the infult, were brought before him; they however exculpated thcmfelves, the blame appearing to He wholly on the fide of the flave-captain. The following is an inftance of the protection afforded to a flave-trader by the Governor and Council, as well as of the cure and prudence which have been exerted to prevent thole ačts of violence which arife out of the Slave Trade, from taking place on the Company's diftri(ft. It has been ftated that an European flave-fačtor (h) fold a free native in his fervice, without the form of a trial, on a charge of adultery with one of his wives ; the fale of this peifon gave rife to the outrage now to be defcribed. " A French flave-fa£tor who lives in " a neighbouring part, having come on fliore " on our fettlement, was met by a native, " who accufed him of having wrongfully fold to a flave-fliip a free man (his brother) who " had ferved the fatSlor faithfully, as a free " grumetta, during many years. The native " proceeded to collar the Frenchman, and " threatened to drag him to a neighbouring " town, that the difpute might be fettled j 1 («) 3te page 114. L 2 " refcued " refcued the Kmopean with fome difficulty, " being detcrmlnctl to forbid all fuch ads of " violence on our grouud ; but while I was " getting a boat in order to convey him out of the lettlement, lie fell again hito the hands of the fame native : by the help of " the Governor and another pi'incipal fervant " of the Company, I refcued him aj^aiii, anil " he got off in fafety to his vcitel. The Frenchman was lb overwhelmed with terror, that lie fancied every otic of us his " eneniies, and began begging that we would " put an end to his life ourfelves, and not give him up to be murdered by the favages. 1 was afraid of fonie interference of tiic Nova Scotians, many of whom v^-^ere looking on during this fcene, but they behaved verv well ; iti their feelings, however, they feemed to lean Üroiigly to the fide of the " natives. 1 told them that before any ftranger " flioTiId be forcibly carricd oft'from our dif-tridl, we were determined that v/e ourfclves " would be carried olf, and they were very " much reftrained by my holding this Ian-guage. On the following Sunday our clergy*' man noticed from the pulpit, liow utibe-" coming it would be if any rtrangei", Iiow-ever culpable he might luive been, who " had come into the fettlcment imagining he " was under our protečlion, Ihould have his " perfon feized while he was it; it: the Nova Scotians approved of what was faid. I after-"■ wards made a complaint to the chief of the " diÜria " diflricl in which the native who had col" Jared the bretichman lives, and received a " formal apology for what had piiiled, helng " aflured that no fuch outrage (hould be com" mitted in future. Soon after this, 1 found that the Frenchman had fpread aljout a ilory, " that the allWt of the native had been inf" tigated by us, and had been altogether an " affair of our contrivance. The poor man was certainly fo terrilied that he might not have been a judge of what paifed at the time of " the ailault; l)clidcs, he would feci as a llave-dealer a Ilrong prejudice againII us : but I " think 1 would fubmit to be again traduced by him rather than let any violence be com" mitted on our ground." This flave-trader is the fame man who inlligated the druid:en chief to commit an outrage on the perfon of one of tlie Company's Captains, which lie did very foon after his own refcue happened. Although the Governor and Council, m conformity with the principles recommended to them by the üiredors. have adopted this pacific line of condučl, fome infLances have certainly arifen of the Company's interference with the interells of the llave-tradcrs, which the Diredors fear may have been interpreted in fome n\eafure into ačts of hof-tility, and become occalions of offence. it is neceffary to introduce the incident which the Diredors are now going to mention, by premifmg that the legillutures of fe-veral of the States of Atnerica have prohibited L 3 the the trade in flaves in certain cafes under heavy penalties. An American fhip having arrived at the mouth of the Sierra Leone river, the fuper-cargo, who appears to have been very little informed of the principles of the Sierra Leone Company, went haiVily to the Governor and Council, and made an ofler of Idling them the whole of her loading for a cargo of flaves; obferving that he would take no other articles in barter, and that he hoped they would favour him with all the flaves he wanted, in the courfe of a few days. One of the Council afked him how the American laws flood in refpeČt to this trade. He faid the laws of that part of America from which he came, prohibited it in his cafe, inflitling forfeiture of the fhip, and one thoufand pounds fine upon the captain: But, added he, nobody will inform.' It was anfwered to him, ' Indeed, fir, you arc miftaken; I myfelf fhall inform if ndne elfe undertakes to do it.' ' I hope, fir, faid the fupercargo, you will not do fo unfriendly a thing.' * I ■would rather, replied the member of Council, prevent evil than puniih it; and I therefore give you warning, that if you carry off a fingle Have from this coaft, you fhall find an information lodged againft you in America.' 7 he fupercargo then declared that what had dropped from him had not been fpoken in earncfl, and that he had a great abhprr. abhorrence of the Slave Trade. The American fliip appears to liavc quitted Sierra Leone River immediately after this converfation, to the obvious prejudice of the flave-faftories in that quarter. The Direi^ors have received from Sierra Leone, a lift of all the American veffels which have been known to tranfgrefs the laws of their country, and they are taking meafures for conveying to the feveral legifla-tures, whofe authority lias been infulted, iufTicient evidence of all the circumftances which may tend to the convidtion and pu-uiihment of the offenders. One other ftep taken hy the Dire£tors with the view of limiting, if polFible, fomc of the cxceffes of the Slave Trade, may be worthy of mention. When the information arrived of the fale of all the free-mariners found on board the captured French fhlps, it was accompanied with an intimation of fome doubt having anfen in the minds of the Company's fervants abroad, whether they ought not to have taken on tbemfelves the redemption of thefe injured men: it was imagined that the price paid for their hberty might be recovered in England, by an ačtiou of debt againft the Britifli fubje£ts who fold them. On the other hand, it was obvious that much expenfe would accrue from fending over all the neceffary witneiTcs from. Africa; that there was alfo dangei; of failing L 4 iui in lome point of legal evidence, and that there inuil he a variety of uncertainties attending fuch a bufincfs: the Governor and Council were therefore, on the whole, afraid of adopting this ftcp. The Court of Di-rečlors, however, on taking into confuler-ation the various advantages that might arife from an avowal of their determination to interfere In future cafes of this fort, thought it right to fend out inftručlions, that if, in certain cafes whicii they fpecihed, any neighbouring native fl^ould be unjultly fold hereafter as a Have, either to or by any Britilh fubječt, the Governor and Council were to coniider themfelves authorized to pay the price of fuch perfcn's redemption, if no other means of reftoring the captive to liberty fhould be aftbrded. The communication of this intelligence to feveral of the neighbouring chiefs, is faid to have given confiderable fatif-faction. The Direčlors having thus fpoken of the fteps which they have taken tending to pre-fcrii)e fome limits to the Slave Trade, and either to prevent or remedy a few of its greater enormities, fo far as concerns the immediate neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, will proceed next to defcribe fome of the direčt efforts which they have made to fct on foot plans of Cultivation and indullry, and to prepare the way for the introdudlion of Chriftianity and Civilization into thofe parts of of Africa wlieve they have any influence. The obilacks winch the Slave Trade has prefented to the defigns of the Company, will again necefTarlly appear in treating of this topic. It is ohvioufi that one of the moft cffedual means of promoting the Civilization of Africa, mutl be that of attempting to gain over foine of the principal kings or chicfs, to this great caufe. If any chief fituated in the neighbourhood of fertile land, over wliich he has an undifputed right, and liaving already gru-inettas under him, could be perfuaded to turn the labour of his people to the regular cultivation of the foil; if he could he indiiccd for inftance, to take an European planter into his fervice, and to comn^it to him the di-redion of fuch induftry as the chief could command ; if he could be perfuaded alfo to protect and entertain a fchool-matter, or mif-fionary, who might converfe freely with the chief, and become an inftrudor of all the fur-rounding people, a friendly connexion and intercourfe being at the fame time eitabliflied between the native in queftion and the Sierra Leone government; it can hardly be doubted that, under the aufpices of any well-difpofed African uniting thefe advantages, the work of Civilization might advance with a rapid ftep. The Dlre£tors will here ftate the feveral ohftacles to the adoption of any plan of cultivation by the native chiefs, \s'hich, under the the prefent clrcumftances of Africa, mult naturally be expected to arifc. It ]ms been already noticed, tliat the knigs and head-men in the neighbourhood of SieiTa Leone univerfally deal in Haves. Many private fiave-traders have railed themfclves into chicfs by means of this traffic, and all the more regular chiefs have become more or lefs dealers in ■ flaves alfo ; the difference between a chief, or king, who is alfo a flave-trader, and a flave-tradcr who has ralfed him-felf into a chief, being principally this, that the king is the lefs powerful of the two, and is commonly alfo in debt to an European fadory, to which he is therefore fubfervientj whereas the llavc-trader is often rich and independent, having many head-men in his debt, who are confequently reduced into fubjeaion to him. The difficulty of interell-ing the African chiefs in fchemes of cultivation, is a point on which it cannot be ne-ceffiu-y therefore to dwell; for it is obvious that, generally fpeaking, neither a king who is in league with a flave-fa£tor, nor a chief who has acquired all that he has by the Slave Trade, can be expedted to become the patron of a plan which has for its obječt tlia introduction of induftry and the reformation of the manners of Africa. And indeed it may be added, that the Slave Trade prefents, both to the chiefs and the inferior dealers, profits often fo tempting, and attended alfo with fo little trouble, that habits of regular jippUcation application and labour feem not likely to be general in Africa, till this trade fhall ceafe. On the other hand it may be important to remark, that the Slave Trade has ferved to initiate the natives into the ufe of Europeaa articles, fome of which are confidered among them even as necelTaries of life. The tafle which has been thus created, may therefore be reafonably expected to operate as an effectual fpur to induftry, as foon as ever that sera fliall arrive, when Africa fliall be required to give the produce of her land and labour, inftead of her inhabitants themfelves, in payment for thefe neceflarles from Europe. i'he large credits given in the Slave Trade may be mentioned alfo as an obftacle to any fudden dereliclion of it, fmce they render it very dllTicult for thofe chiefs who might be difpofed to turn their thoughts to cultivatioa to call in their capital. The prejudices which many native chiefs at firft imbibed againft the (.'ompany, may be named as another hindrance to the adoption of any plans of cultivation fuggefted to them. The chiefs appear to have been taught to believe, that the Sierra Leone Company were about to bccome the general difturbers of the peace, by changing the ciiftoms of Africa; that they intended to uiurp the power of the chiefs, and, in the end, to drive them from their own territory; find, in particular, it feems to have been re-, jjorted every where, to be one immediate obječt object of the Company, to encourage ilaves of all dcfcriptkms to rim away from tlidr makers, by oflering them an afylum in the fettleinent. It is ol)vious that tills impediment to good uiidcrflamling with the chiefs, is to be confldcrcti as merely temporary. Sueli iirc the obrtacles which uiiglit have been naturally cxpeded to oppofe, aivtl which have in faCl more or lefs oppofed, every attempt made iiy the Company to interefl the African chiefs In plans of civilization and in-dnftry. They are obftaclcs however, wliich, though many of them ftlll operate with tlie natives in general, have been overcome in feveral individual inftances, as the Direilors will have the fatisfaöiion of Ihcwing. The circumftances which have enabled the Company occahonallv to prevail over fo many formidable hindrances are not difficult to be explained. It may be remarked in the firft placc, that there are a few natives of fome confequence in Africa, who, though they owe their rife to the Slave Trade, never carried it on to any great extent themfelves, but are the fucceifors of deceafed flave-traders, and are growing now lefs and lefs difpofed to puih that dangerous and bloody traffic, by which their property has been acquired. 1 his is one defcription of chiefs from among xvhom the Company may be expetSted to make profelytes. To thefe may be added as many other Have-traders, or chiefs, (and they arc likely to amoimt, in courie of time, to no no fmall number in the whole) who may Jiappen to be thrown into lome dillreis through the Slave Tratle ; who may lofe a near relation or a friend through this traffic; or poUibly having been redeemed from a ilave-flup themfelves, may become afFeded by the confidcration of having narrowly dcaped that fate to which they are in the habit of configning others. Circumftance» liave already occurred at Sierra Leone, which have led the Diredors to exped that fome converts to the cauie of tlie Company may, from time to time, be gained from perfons coming under this defcription. Again, there may be other Africans who may be induced, jiartly at leaft by higher princitjles, to favour the Company; who may be led, in fome meafure, ferioufly to contemplate the mlferiea which the Slave Trade has brought upon their imbappy country, and may be prevailed upon, if a fair opening be afforded them, and the lacrifice required of them l>e not too great, to bccome the inllruments of rendering the placc of their own refidence a fcene of order and peaceful indidlry. I.allly, there may be fome African kings, or chiefs, who, ftruck with the improvements which they may have beheld at Freetow ti, or having been induccd perhaps to vifit England, may return animated with the dciire of imparting the blcf-fmgs they have witneHed, to their native country ; who may be induced, pöilibly by embracing Clu-iftian principles, to devote their their lives to the caufe, and may ftand forward as the clilef promoters of the Civilization of Africa, and the zealous friends öf the Company. That one or other of the principles alluded to has adtually operated on the minds of feveral very confiderable chiefs, will he feen hy the recitals which will now be given to the Court. The DircQors will introduce firft, a quotation from the journal of one of their ler-\ants already frequently relbrted to, which will delcrihe an interview held with a neighbouring chief, about a year after the inftitution of the colony. " Having received feme intimation of the prejudices againft us fubfifting in the mind ** of this chief, I began my converfation with ohferving, that I feared our engagements at home in the care of our infant " colony, might have afforded time for in" terefted men to fpread abroad many re" ports to our difadvantagc: that it was true " we wore not friends to the Slave Trade, but that our plan was peaceably to draw the natives from it, by fetting before them ** other, fourccs of wealth, and opening their " eyes to their own true interefts. He was, " to a certain degree, civil and polite in his " replies, but at hrft evidently far from cordial ; he allowed that we had many " enemies, and that he had been a good deal " alarmed for his property. 1 then explained " feveral ** feveral parts of our conduct, which I " found had been grofsly mifreprefented; " and affured him, in particular, that it was not in the leaft our piirpofe to decoy flaves " from tlieir mafters (as he underftood it was " our principle to do), and that if we did " not feize and deliver them up when they " run away to our fettlement, yet we would neither willingly flielter them, nor give them employment. I offered education at " Sierra Leone to any of his young people, ** and hinted that a ieminary might be fet " up at his own place of refidcnce, if he '' wifhed it. I then urged him to turn the " labour of his griimettas to the obječt of " cultivation, entering into long calculations " upon it, and proceeded to fet before him " the many advantages he v/ould derive from, ** having his lands covered with cotton anxl " coffee, inftead of their being depopulated " as heretofore by the Slave Trade. He " was very inquifitive on this fubjed, and " appeared rather to approve the plan, ex" prelling however a doubt whether he " fhould find a market for his produce: 1 " anfw^ered, that we would nrake an agrec-" ment to take it off his hands at a certain " price. The converfation ended by his " übferving that my explanation was fatis-** fadlory, and that he wifhed fuccefs to the Clompany. I walked afterwards over Ibme of the land of this chief, the foil of " which is excellent: cotton grows in great " abundance " abundance, and the true indigo is Teen in " icveral places." The Directors have the fatisfa£llon of adding, that the difpolition of this perlbn to quit the Slave Trade and betake himfelf to cultivation, appears, by rccent advices, to-have been confiderably ftrcngthened ; and fome meaiures are flated to luive been adually taken by him for tliis purpofe- The obftacles which have retardetl the adoption of the fuggeftions made to him by the Company, have been precifely fueh as might be ex-pe£ted ; namely, his outftanding del)ts, which it has been found very difficult to get in, imlefs by accepting Haves in difchaige of them ; his cxpcrience of the prolits of' the Slave Trade, by which all Ids property lias been gained, and his mind of courie to a certain degree influenced ; and his temporary prejudices againll the Company. On the other hand, the liumanity for wdiich this African is diftinguiflied, the growing liberality of his views, and above all perhaps the reduction which there has lately been in the J demand for flaves through the war, as well iS the late failure of mercantile :/edit in this country, feem at length to hav^e operated on his mind lo effeä:ually, as to turn the balance in favour of a fyftem of cultivation. Another obfervation, to the praife of this refpettable African, feems proper to be added. It might naturally be prefumed from the cir- cuni fiances cuniftances whicli have been ftated, that at tlic time wjien he followed the Slave Trade, he would be likely to exercifc as mucJi humanity as could eafily be made compatible with the proleeutioji of fiich a commerce ; and that he would probably therefore confine his purcliafes to Haves fetched from^ a dillance, giving protečlioji to the people round him, even while he was inconfiderutcly encouraging the atrocitics of the interior country. The truth of this preiumption is eftablifhed by cenfures caft on him by the flave-tra.d^rs. He is the very man (the fuccellbr of the mulatto chief J who was charged l)y the Britilh Have-captain with having made him wait fo long for fiaves, being afraid to " make a haul" of his people, as " the fine fellow,'^ his predeceflbr, ul'ed to do ; and whofe town therefore, the Britilh captain faid lie would have leized, " if his fhip liad been well manned,*' in order to teach this African trader " a proper degree of fpirit." His want of the due qualifications for the Slave Trade has been likewife intimated by a Britifh faflor refident in that part; for wben the latter was aiked, " Does the liiccelfor of the mulatto llave-trader take the fame means of recovering debts (namely, by laying waft? the towns of his debtor) which his prede-celfor did ?" The anfwer was, " No, he is too cafy" The Directors find in the journal fent home, a teftimony from the mouth of a third Britifh fubjcÜ, no lefs to the praife of M this this African, the degree of peacc and fecurity which his mildnefs has Introduced into the country round him, being intimated in words to the following purport: " I remember the " time {fald this flave-faöor who dwelt on " a neighbouring illand,) when, if 1 dif-patched a grumetta up the country with goods equal in value to one flavc, I was " fure to have him back with a couple of flaves in return for them within fix days : " but it will now take as many weeks to get " the fame number of Haves ; and yet I am obliged to give more money for my flaves " than ever." The Sierra Leone Company owe the fuc-cefs they have met with, throughout the diftrift they have now been fpeaking of, partly to the war, and partly to the remembrance of the miferies inflided in the time of the mulatto flave-trader. They have derived a fimilar benefit from fome recent experience of the bitter confcqiicnccs of the Slave Trade in the following cafe; A Mahometan chief has been mentioned, who redeemed from a flavc-flüp three of the free fettlers from London, and who came down to the fettlemcnt with the view of obtaining the Company's alTiftancc, in the recovery of a free-boy detained for a debt by a flave-fiiftor. The following oblervations made by this Maliomctan may properly be added in this place. '' He " He faid, that he had been taught to " look on this fettlement with a jealous eye, " and had therefore hitherto avoided all " intercourfe with us, but that fome recent " misfortunes brought on him by the machinations of Jlave-traders, fome of which " he particularized, added to what he had lately learnt refpečting our condučl, had " made him fufped the truth of what he had been ufed to hear concerning us, and that " he was come to have his doubts cleared ** up. After fome general couverfation, he applied to me in the moft earneft manner " for my affiftance in the recovery of " Famarah, (a very confiderable and diftin-" guillied chicf, carried oft' the coaft fome " time fmce as a flave,) who had been his " intimate friend, and for whom he felt " deeply concerned. He afterwards fpoke " to me of the favourite free-boy, whom he " had juft loft, and by way of inducing me " to exert myfelf in the recovery of thefe ** captives, he named his own interference in " the redemption of our free fettlers, for " which he obfervcd that he had been much " blamed as well as laughed at by the llave-" traders. Though I could give him little " hope of being able to recover either of " theie two perfons, through the difficulty " of tracing them, he went away pleafcd on " the whole with his vifit. He was par" ticularly gratified by going with me to fee " the fchools; ' If I were a younger man, 2 " faid " faid he, 1 flioiild ftay here always; but, as it is, I fl^ali fend my children.' He alfo fpoke of his having been driven, through the arts of a Britifli flave-trader, to the neceffity of quitting his native place ** of refidence ; but obferved, that he lived now in a country affording fomc produce, " which he fl^ould be happy to collect for us, 1 was much intereilcd both by the converfation and manners of this vifitor, *' who is about lixty years old, of a good appcarance, with n\uch bencvolence in his " countenance. His mind, which is na" turally fagacious, being now bowed down " by Iiis misfortunes, is more open to rc-*' ceive impreflions unfavourable to the Slave " Trade than that of moft of his country" men, and I truft we fluill attach hlin to « us." Tiie Directors will next add a very encouraging account of an interview with another chief. " 1 waited on tlie chief of this river, who " is a perlbn of confiderable confequence; ** for though there are three kings in the " neighbourhood, he is faid to poiTcfs a " powerful influence over them, and to have had the noniination of them all. I was " furprifed by the appcarance of a man about " ninety years old, Aill fenfibie and a£live. " 1 acquainted him with the motives of niy vifit, and the general principles of the Sierra Leone Company. Ue entered very " readily " readily into our views, afTured me that lie " would t:ike our traders under Iiis protcc-" tion, and alfo favour us in refpečl to the " cuftoms of his river: he promifed to fend " one of his boys to the fettlemeiit for edu-" cation, and exprefled an intention of vifit-" ing it Idmfelf in the enfuing dry feafon. He alfo offered proteitlon to a miflionary, " or fchoolmafler, if we would fend him " one, and faid he would take care to make Iiis iituation comfortable. I have met with no one of the natives more liberal in his " views, or more clear in his ideas and manner of converfation. He has diverted himfelf " wonderfully ' of all the African prejudices, " ridicules without fcruple the fupcrftition of " his countrymen, and particularly inveighs " againft the cuftom of facrificing to the " devil, who, faid he, ' muft be himfelf a " creature of God.' Although occafionally " engaged in the Slave Trade, he feems to " rejoice in the profpedl of its abolition. Some years ago his town was deftroyed by " the mulatto Have-trader, and many of hi<> " people were carried into captivity; he ftill " waits an opportunity of revenging himfelf, " -We have fuggefted to him the follow" ing proportion ; that he fhould build on " an ifland of his a houfe for a fačl:ory, and " a rice-houfe, vefting in us the right of " poffeirion, and that he lliould furnifla to a " planter, whom w^e might fend thither, labourers enough to dear and plant the M " whole whole of the iJland. I think it is likely ** that our propofal will be complied witli, and that a magazine may confequently be eftablifhed for the produce of the neigh" bouring country, which is very rich, abounding with rice, llock, and camwood. If a fchoolmafter, or miflionary, fhould fcltle on the fpot propofed for the plantation, he would of courfe find a confider-able population around it, provided the " cultivation fhould be carried on with fpirit; " and he would alfo be within one or two hours diftance of feveral of the moft populous villages in thefe parts, to which he " might occafionally migrate," A very favourable fpecimen of the African charačter, and a moft plea^mg proof of the pradicability of introducing various European improvements into that continent, are afforded by the following incident : " A fliip of ours arrived lately from the " river Gambia, with five natives in her; one of them, of the name of Cuddy, is a " chief, and principal trader refiding there; " his figure and appearance are very prc-polleiring and fingiilar ; he is well made, and about fix feet three inches high : his " manners are civil and iinconftralned, and his face is the pidure of benevolence. He " is at the fame time modeft and diffident, " and afraid of faying a word I)y which he " may offend againft the trvUli. He was drcifed after the faüiion of his country* " and and was imcommonly meat and clean, but " defpifed finery. He has rireti much in my crtcem during the fourteen days which " he has juft been pafling in my houfe, and " all the officers of the Company, as well as " the fettlers, have been uncommotily pleafcd " with hiin. The circumllance in his cha-" račler which gratified me the moft, was, " that whatever he faw, he feemed to con" template chiefly with the view of turning " it to the advantage of his country. He " has been uling the greateft afFiduity to " prevail on fome of tlie Nova Scotia fettlers " to accompany him back to the Gambia, " in order that they may inftrudl his country" men in their arts; and has fucceeded in " procuring a good carpcnter to go with " him, who is to build him a houfe, and " make him fome ploughs and utenfils for " hufbandry. The carpenter underftands " making looms alfo, and Cuddy has it much " at heart to Introduce a broad loom among " his people. He has perfuaded another " man to embark with him, who under" Hands ploughing, and can make fliingles, " and other ufeful articles. Cuddy having " long entertained a predilection for the " Company, has always Ihewn great kind" ncfs to their fervants, when they have " been in the Gambia, and he has built a " little town on the floop fide of that river, " to which he has given the name of Sierra Leone. Ueing curious in natural proM 4 duüionsj " duftions, he fhewed to our botanlft fcve-" ral plants growing here which are ufeful " in dying, and in particular a tree which " is ufed in the Gambia for making the indigo more durable." The Diretlors will in the next place treat more particularly of the interior country. The chief information which they fliall offer on this fubject, will be comprized in a narrative of a journey lately undertaken into a large neighbouring kingdom by two of the Company's fervants/'^ The Directors have not introduced into the preceding parts of this Report any article of intelligence gained in this expedition, fmcc they conceived it to be defirable that all the chief circumftances relating to it Ihould be prefcnted at one view to the Court. Information having been brought to the Governor and Council by fotne natives of • It may be proper to remark, that the account of thin expedition, as welt as a variety of other mattet introduced into this and the preceding chapter, W.is not inferted in the Report read to the Proprietors. Advices fiom ijierra Leone, dated the 6th of September, 1794, hid been received at the time ot fending the prefent Report to the prefs, which have furnifhcd much additional imelligcnce. Thefe recent accounts are in ahnoll every refpcA more fjvourablc than any which had preceded : they convtVi neverthelefs, information of a dilluvbance having arifen in the colony, through the violence of feme of the motf difaftef^ed and mifchievcLis of ihe Nova Scotians ; but the ringleader? having been taken up, or having left the I'ettlcment, and the iitnioH n anquiljitv prevailing at the time when the l:ili difpatches came away, which were dated fcven or eight weeks fubfcquent to the tumult, the govcrnmcn: appear to be fully ptrfuaded that there is no reaion to apprthetid any permanent or material ill cottietjuences. the the Foulah country, that the king of the Fouiahs, a large and powerful nation, § to the north-cidl of Sierra Leone, had ex)>refied a delire to form an intercourfe with the colony, two gentlemen in tlic Company's fer-vice X offered to make an attempt to penetrate tlirough a large, and as yet unknown tratl of country, to bis capital. They accordingly üiiled to the river Rionunes, whiclv is to the north of Sierra Leone, obtained the neceilary interpreters and guides at the town of Kocundy, which liea a coniklerable way up the river, and then fet out on foot in a party of about twenty perfons. Tliey mention, with mtich thankfulnefs, their obligations to fome flave-traders in the neighbourhood of Koeundy, and in particular to a mulatto trader, who was of conliderable ufe to them in their letting out. It appeared in a {liort time after their leaving the Rionunes, that a confiderable intercourfe fubfilted between the interior country and the upper parts of the river ; for no lefs than five or lix Jiundred Foulahs were often feen in one day, carrying great loads of rice and ivory on their backs, which they were About to exchange for fait. The travellers § There appear to be federal independent tribes or n:iiion! of I'Oulahs in Africa, of which this is probabiy ojic of' the rnofl cotifidcrable. t The Pcrfons who made tliis expedition were Mr. J.itnes Watt, already fpokcn of, ;ind Mr. Wiiiterboltom, brutljer to Dr. Winterbottom, the phyfician to the colony. found found as they went forward, a number of iuccelTive towns, cliftant in general iix, eight, or ten miles from each other, in which ihey were always molt hofpitably received ; the utmoft latisfačtion as well as furprize being cxprefTcd at the appearance of white men, of whom none had ever been feen even at the tliftance of a few days joiirney from the coaft. After travelling for fixteen days, through a country barren in many part« but fruitful in others, and remarkably full of cattle, and after paffing two or three iinall rivers, one of which was faid to empty itfclf into the river Gambia, they arrived at the town of Laby, which is diflant about two hundred miles, almoft directly eaftward or inland, from that part of the river Rionunes from which they fet out on foot. Here they fpent three or four days, being mofl; cordially received by the chief or king of the place, who is fubordinate to the king of the Foulahs. l aby is about two miles and a half in circumference, and is fuppoled to contain not lefs than five thou-fand hihabitants : the ftate of civilization is nuich the fame here as in the farther part, which will be defcribed fliortly. From Laby they proceeded towards the capital of the Fouiah kingdom, called Teembo, which is feventy-two miles further inland, and having experienced every where the fame hofpltality, they arrived there in tlic courfe of another week. Puring fourteen daysj which they paficd in in the capital, they had many converfatlons, through the medium of interpreters, both with the king and with a perfon who ačts as deputy to the king in his abfencc, and with many other principal perfons. It appears tl\at the countr\'^ fulijedt to the king of the Foulahs, is about three hundred and fifty miles in length, from call to weft, and about two hundred miles in breadth, from north to fouth; and that the king exercifes a very arbitrary power, both in refpečt to the punifhment of offences, and many other points, and, in particular, that he opens and fluits up the markets and channels of trade jufl as he pleal'es. The town of Teembo is fuppofed to contain about fevcn thou-fand inhabitants, and the fuperiority of the people of all theie interior parts, to thofe on the coaft, is great, in molt branches of civilization. The houfes here and at Laby, as well as at fomc other places, are occafion-ally fpoken of in the journals from which this narrative is taken, as very good. The filver ornaments worn by fome of the chief women, are faid to be equal in value to 20I. There are people at Laby and at Teembo, who work in iron, in iilver, in wood, and in leather, and there is a manufadure of narrow cloths. The chief men aie furniflied with books, of which the fubjed is generally either divinity or law ; and the art of reading is common over the country, there being fchools for the iulli'udion of children eftablilh- cd In almofl every town. Horfes are commonly uled by the chief people, who are faid to ride out often for their amufement, and a fpecics of horfe-race or courfmg occurred, at which the king invited the two ftrangers to attend. The foil is generally ftony; much of it is pafture ; rice is cuhivated in fome parts, chiefly by the hibour of the women, the men, a great proportion of whom are Haves, carrying away the produce on their backs. About onc-third of the country is faid to be extremely fertile; the foil is dry, and the climate is thought very good. The nights and mornings were fometimes cold, and the thermometer was once as low as 51 at half paft five in the morning, but it rofe to near 90 at noon. The profefTed religion of the country is Mahometanifm, and there are many mofques; hut neither the priefts nor people appear to have much bigotry in their minds, though they do not fail to obferve the Mahometan ceremonies, praying five times a day. The puniihments which the king inflicts are fevere, efpecially in the tai'e of difrefpccl Ihewn to Ids own authority 5 but it appears that no Foulahs are ever fold as Haves cither for debts or crimes, and kidnapping feldom occurs, being probably not very practicable in the heart of the country. The Foulahs however liave I)een ulud, till lately, to carry on a very confider-ablc «Slave Trade by means of tlieir wars ; fur tlicy go to war avowedly for the purpofe of of getting flaves, one of the tenets of tlieir religion, wliich permits them to dellroy all whom they term iuhtlels (a term which feenis; to inchide all their ncighhours), affording them a convenient apology for every exei'cile of this horrible injuftice. The fcrvants of the Company appear to have loll no opportunity of inveighing againil the wickednefs of thefe wars, and of inculcating the principles which govern the Sierra Leone Company on the minds both of the king, the chief priefts, and other principal pcrfons, as the following palfages from one of the journals will iliffi-cientiy prove. " In the morning I had a vifit from the deputy king, who told me with a degree " of opennefs which fliockcd me, that the " fole objed of their wars was to procure " flaves, as they could not obtain the Euro" pean goods they wanted without Haves, and they could not get flaves witliout figbt-" ing for them. 1 mentioned rice, ivory, " and cattle, but he anfwered that they could " not obtain a fufhcient fupply of the articles they moft needed, in return for produce, fince the factories would not fui-nifli them. " with guns, powder, and cloth, which they " confidered as the chief necelTaries, for any " thing except flaves. I told him, that by " following a trade in produce, they might " become rich without going to war tor " flaves, a thing which mult certainly be " very oflenfive to that God to whom they " prayed " prayed five times a day. " But thefc peo^ " pie on whom we make war, returned he, " never pray to God : we do not go to war " with people who give God Almighty fer-vice." In an interview with the king himfelf the following converfatlon occurred: " After having ilated the views of the Sierra Leone Company, I took the liberty of remarking how wicked it was for one nation to deftroy another. If thefe people, faid I, have not fo much knowledge as you have, you fiiould endeavour to in-ftruü them. There were prefent berides the king, the head prieft and the chief minifter, and they all fufFered me to proceed without interruption ; I was furprized at their attention ; they all acknowledged the truth of what I faid, and the king ob-ferved, that if he could get guns and powder and every thing elfe he wanted, for ivory, rice, and cattle, he would foon have done with the Slave Trade. I told him, that if once the people of Africa knew the Sierra Leone Company perfectly, I was fure the wars would ceafe, and the nations of Africa would be at peace with their neighbours. They all faid, they believed fo too." The following is the fubftance of a con-verfation which occurrcd the day after: " I waited on a head-man who had defircd " to fee me: I found him writing, ljut he '' quickly " quickly laid afide his work. I had much " converfation with him fiinilar to that which " I held with the king the night before. He " defended for feme time their religious wars, but at laft rather yielded, admitting that " they murt be difpleafmg to God : he ftill " faid, however, that their book defired them " to make war on every nation who would " not do God fervice, I replied, that there might be many good things in their book, " but that I was fiire that paifage had been " put in by the devil. God was fo good " and merciful himfelf, that he mull hate " every one that was fo cruel as to deftrov " his fellow creatures. The head-man did " not hefitate to fay, that if the Foulahs could get the articles they wanted without going to war, he would then believe that ** going to war was ofieniive to God ; but, faid he, if wc cannot get thefe things without going to war for them, God then cannot be angry with us for going to war, " efpecially as it is fo in our book." One other circumftance refpefling the Slave Trade, more lamentable than any which the Directors have yet mentioned, muft be added in this place. The deputy of the king, after ftating that the wars of the Foujahs were undertaken folely for tlie purpofe of getting 11 a ves, faid alfo, that the old men and old " -women who were captured in thefe wars^ " and ivho -were known to be uiifaleable, "were " put to death" Thefe are the words ufed in if it ill the journal of * one of the Company's fervauts ; the journal of the other rcprefciits the deputy of the king as faying, that the i-'nukhs " ctd the throats " of the older captives, and it proceeds to mention, that when the cruelty of the pračtice was inveighed again ft, he replied, thut it was not lb cruel as letting the old people ftarve to death, adding aUb, that the nations on which they made war, would not Icruple to do the lame. That this enormouä cffufion of blood is another evil, in addition to thole heforc enumerated, which is diredlly chargca!)le on the Slave Trade, tlie feveral (juofations now given feem completely and diflinttly to prove ; and on the other hand, that no fimilar cffiilion of blood can be fnppofed to happen, even among the fame people, in the caie of able-bodied Haves returned or withheld for want of a market, the recital of the following circuni-llances will l"hew no lefs indifpiitably. It has been already noticed, that hy the breaking out of the war with France, a very great and fudden check was given to the Slave Trade on the coalt. It appears from the journals of this expedition, tliat the influence of the European war was no lefs ftrongly felt in thefe interior regions. The wars of Teem-bo eeafed about this period: the price of Haves at the fea-fide, fell from 160 to 120 bars. The king of the Foulahs in order to • Mr. Watt. bring Iji-ing the flave-traders to terms, forbade all his fubje£ts to cany flaves to the coaft, imtil 160 bars fhould again be offered, and the confequence of the llavca having been thus withheld (a few frnuggled ones excepted) is ftated in the journal to be, that the Foulah country had become full of them.* It has been mentioned in one part of the preceding body of information concerning tiie Slave Trade, that the Foulahs (who were at the Hime time alfo ftated to be known to go to war for Haves) were often kidnapped before they could return from carrying their captives down to the fadlories, by the freebooters who iufcft the coaft. This intelligence is confirmed by the following Incident, which, however, is not the only one occurring in this journey that might ferve to eftablifh the fame point. An old man called on the travellers when they were at Teembo, and begged them to make inquiry after his fon, who with fix others, forae of them relations of the king, had been feized in returning from the river Riopongas, about four years ago. They had been fold to the Britilh flave-fačtor at the Ifles de Los, and immediately ihipped off, one only excepted, to the Weft Indies : by the Foulah king's interference this one was recovered : the old man faid, there was no ranfom that he fhould not be willing to pay • The journal indicates, though not very dillinčll/, that they were put to work. N for for his Ton.* The writer of t!ic journal adds, I allured hnn, that the Governor of Sierra " Leone would feel ahnoil as much plcafiirc " in reftorliig; his fon, as the father himfclf " could fed in feeing him return, and that " we rtiould fpare no pains in incjuiring after " him. At hearing nie fay this, the old man's " eyes glillened, and he left me, hleffing both " the [governor and myfelf, and aHuring me " that he Ihould pray for me." The DireQors have the fatisfaftion of oh-ferving, that the two tnivellcrs appear both by the propriety and eonliftcncy of their own conduct, and by the public declarations which they made of tlie principles which governed the conduct of the Sierra Leone Comjjany, to liave ingratiated themfelves much with the natives, and to have peculiarly pofleiTed themfelves of the eonfulcnce of the chief people. The king being aiked whether he ihould be willing to encourage any European, to fettle near him with a vievi^ to cultivation, readily anfwered, that he would furniih him with land, and cattle, and men for the purpofe. Much converfation paifed at different times concerning the introduftion of the plough, of which no one had ever heard in the Fou-lah country. The king of Lahy offered to * Two of the perfons fuTd are faid to hava borne the name cf Omar, another is fnlled HamadoO, and another Bubarcarrie ; UTO othej s are mentioned under the n^ime ofHannodoo, one of whont the fpn of tliis old man. I'he Dii eftors have intro-diiccd their names with a vifw of promoting their redeniptioi». fend lend a ibn to Eaglantl for education, and a piiiicipal prieft exprened fome willingncfs to do the lliinc. Diligent inquiry was made • l)otli at Laby and I'eemljo, concerning the route to Toinbudoo, a town in the heart of Africa, luppofed to be of the hrfl; magnitude, to whicli fojne adventurers from the Affoci-ation inftitiued for promoting Difcovcrics in the interior of Africa, have attempted to penetrate. It was faid at Lahy that a free communication fubiided with Tomhuöoo, of which tlie diftancc however was defcribed to be no lefs than a four montiis journey ; fix kingdoms intervening between the country of the Foulah king and that of the kingof Tom-budoo.* The kingdom of Genah, the near-ell of the fix to Tombudoo, and that of Tombučtoo itfelf, were fpokeii of as richer than any of the others that were named. The city of Calhna feems alfo to ]iavc been known at Laby, but the route thither was defcribed as hazardous. On leaving Teenibo, the Company's fer-vants thought proper to return by a diiferent and rather more dangerous path ; they were efcorted however by a large body of ioulahs, fent at the command of tlie king; the number of thefe amouQthig, during part of the journey, to no Icfs than five or fix hundred. When this body of people arrived on the borders of • The nearcft to the Foubh kingdom is Bclia, the fecond Bouria, the third Manda, the fourth begoo, the fifth So3-funtloo, the Cxth Genah. N 2 th e the Sufce country, which it was neceflary for the travellers to crofs in order to reach the fea by this path, a fufpicion arofe on the part of the Sufees, that the Foulahs were come to make war agalnft them, under the pretext of condiiding white men to the coaft ; on which occafion the Foulahs exhibited to the Sufees fome goods and flaves which they had with them, as a proof that they could have no dc-fign of making war, and fucceeded in removing the fufpicion ; infomuch that it was determined at a meeting of Sufee chiefs, held in a neighbouring town of the Sufees, not only that the travellers, and the party with them who wifhed to proceed to Sierra Leone, fhonld be permitted to pafs, but alfo that the path through the Sufee country, which former wars had fliut, Ihould become permanently open. Four or five confiderable perfons from the Foulah king, and from other kings and chiefs, together with their fuite, came down to Freetown with the white travellers and paffed a few days there, arranged fome plans with a view to a commercial intercourfe, and returned full of admiration of what they had feen, and gratified in the higheft degree by their vifit. It has fince been learnt that the Foulahs who came on this embaffy, have got back to the borders of the Foulah kingdom, where their countrymen who came to meet them were fo much interefted at the firft recital of what had been heard and feen at Sierra Leone, Leone, that the p^irty were kept together in convcrfation till day-break. The fuccefs attending the journey which has been juft defcrihed, has encouraged the idea of another and more important enter-prize, upon which one of the travellers Into the Foulah country, and another perlbrt* in the iervice of the Company, wei'e, accordhig to the tail accounts, Ukely foon to enter. Their mahi obječt will be to penetrate to Tombučloo, and the route taken will probably he that of the Foulah country. If the travellers Ihould reaeh Tombu£too, it will depend on the Information which they will tliere receive, whether tliey {hall trace back their fleps Ibuthward to 7 eembo and Sierra Leone, or ihall return diredtly weftward towards the Gambia, or attempt to pafs on through the middle of the continent of Africa, to the Mediterranean. The Directors have had the fatisfadion of learning, not only that wars have ceafed in the parts near to Sierra Leone, fmce the flag-nation of the demand for llaves; but that diftant places on the coaft, having felt the fame declenfion of the Slave Trade, have alfo enjoyed an unufual degree of peace. The very refpc£table and iiitelligent native of the name of Cuddy, from the diilant river Gambia, mentioned, when he was at Freetown, that there were no longer any wars in any part of his neighbotirbood, and that the few N 3 llavta flavcs fold there, the number of whom was diminifliing daily, came from the remote country of Gallain, He is fald to have added the foliowing words : " What Ihould a man " go to war for now ? There is nothing to " make people go to war: no price for Haves —no fhip to take them—no goods to give " for them ! Siippofe fliips come plenty, " aye, then people go to war again ! " The declenfion of the Slave Trade in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, appears from many proofs to have been very great. The Governor and Council fuppofe, that not more than one-fifth of the ufnal number of flaves are now carried off the adjacent Coaft. The French flave-fadory near Freetown has been already mentioned to be relinquilhed, and an individual Rritifh flave-factor has been alfo ftated to have removed himfclf from Sierra Twconc river. One of the chief neighbom'ing faftories, fituated in the Iflcs de Loj, is on the point of being given up alio. The Have-fadory of Bance Illnnd, the only one remaining either in the river Sierra Leone or in its immediate neighbourhood, is thought to apply itfelf more than formerly to the col-Jeilion of producc, having alfo fet on foot a cotton plantation, worked I)y native labourers, a meafure which the inilitution of rhe Sierra Leone Company appears to have lug-jrelled. A llave-faäor, of the name of Wiikinfon, has declared that lie will quit the fradcj and has afked leave to transfer Iiis property property (amoiuituig to about two thoufaiid pounds) to I'leetown, ofTerhig to conform hiinfeif to all the laws of the colony, if he ihould be perniitted to fettle there. * The Governor and Council appear to have taken fome pains in inquu'ing what h.as been done witli the fiaves who have either been withheld or returned through tlie want of purcliafcrs, and what would be likely to be their fate on a total abolition of the Slave Trade. A refpečtable chief from Port Logo, an upper branch of the Sierra Leone river, being afked whether I'efufed prifoners were killed, he anfwered, " No, that is never done in Port Logo; we carry them home and make them work."- Hut will they not run away --" If they do, we can't help that, we can't kill them. Jf a man is too old to fell, he is too old to do you harm; what iliould you kill him for ?"-" Did you ever fee any refufed flaves killed --- " No ; I am an old man, but I never faw that: if they do that in another country I don't know that." " Two other intelligent native traders, " from the Interior country, mentioned the " great number of Haves now on the coalt " waiting for purchafers, and faid they were " at that time kept confined : they named " one trader who had no lefs than two bun" dred in his pofTeffion. On being afked * 'I'his peifon is fince dead. N 4 why why they were not employed in cutting wood, planting rice, or fome other employment, he replied, that there might be danger of infurredion from fo many being employed all together, and that they muft therefore firft be difperfed; befides, there had been, no encouragement to cut camwood : they could not tell what our commercial agent, who was gone down thp coaft, might be able to eftcdt in this re-fpedt. If the Slave 1 rade were to continue at a ftand, they obfervcd, that no more " flaves would come from the bufli (or in" terior country) and, indeed, that few came " now. They faid that the flaves would " certainly not be put to death, for that no" body was ever put to death except in war " or for crimes." " A white fader alfo is named, who gave information, that fcarce any flaves have " been bought for the fpace of a year in that " part of Africa which lies between Cape " Vergo and Cape Mount, on account of the traders on the Coaft having infilled " that the price fhould be reduced about ten " or twelve pounds. He ftated alfo, that the natives, exafperated by the fuddeu " lowering of the terms, had lately withheld " their flaves entirely, and had employed " them, particularly in the Sufee and Man" dingo coujitrics, in the culture of rice." The The Directors will now add fomc obfcr-v.Ltions on the general chamber of the natives; and tJicy will introduce in the fequel lome fads which will Ihew their friendly difpolitions towards the Company, and alfo their capacity for inilručlion. The account which has been given of feveral natives who have been peculiarly in-Jlrumental in forwarding the views of the Company, oup;ht by no means to he coii-fidered as aftortling a fample of the common character of their countrymen. The natives of Africa, fo far as the Direktors have had an opportunity of judging, are, in general, fuperilitious in the higheft degree ; they believe in witchcraft, incantations, and charms, and they are herel)y fulijcčted to grofs impo-fitions, and are alfo led to the practice of many ačts of cruelty, as well as of injuftice : fome of them add a number of Mahometan, or other fuperftitions, to their own, which they learn chiefly from travelling priells of the Mahometan perfuafion, who abound in Africa, and make a trade of felling charms. The natives of bieri'a Leone, and al! the adjacent parts, offer occaiional facrifices to tlie tlevil. They believe in a God, but they appear to render him no ftatcd worüüp ; and though they entertain fome vague notions of a future ftate, their faith feems to have very little influence on their praÖice. Polygamy is every where common, and the fpirit of retaliation and revenge may be coniidered as univcrfal 11 II i VC dal. Oue nf the mofl: rcfpcQalile and fiiüt^Iitcncd üi the cliicfs already mentioned, was laid lo he waiting for an opportunity of revcrtging an injury whicli he had received many years before, not from the mn.n him-fcif Ü11 whom lie meant to wreak Iuh vengeance, but from the predeceflor of tliis per-fon. It may be remarked of another in-tlividual, the moft amiable pcrhapR of all the cliaradcrs met with in tlie Foulah country, that after much coiiverfation on tlie Chriftian religion, in the courfe of which he allowed it to be good in many rcfpcQs, he expvefsly cibjecled to the do£trine of the forgivenefs of injuries, on the ground of its being a virtue not to be attained by man, and therefore not to be re(.[uired of him. There are many varieties of national chavačler among the Africans, fome nations appearing to be more crafty, and fome more uncivilized and favage, than others : nor can the diftinäions among them be traced in all cafes, cither to the Slave Trade or to any local circumftances. The fuperiority of the natives of tlie Foulah country, and their great hofpltality to Grangers, have already fufhciently appeared; and on tlie other hand, it may be remarked, that the natives of the coall in general, but particularly thoie wiio live near the flave-fadfories, arc much given to liquor, are fufpicious of white men, crafty, and deceitful, as well as favage and fcrocious : they are faid likewtfe to be fellHh, unreafonable, and encroaching. In 111 favour of the Afvican.3 it may be ob-fervcd, that they are in general Ibulihie of beaclits received, and gratehd for them; that they have inucti niitural aiTečlioii ai^tl feeling ; that though occafionally violent they arc not unmaiiageaiile ; and that tlie energies of their mind (which lonie accoiMts glvi?a of the cutting oir of ilave-lhips have already fliewn to l)e very (trong), though turned as yet to wrong obječk, are capable no doubt of receiving a better dire^lion. It inny be lidded, tliat the Africans appear to be eager for knowledge, as well as religiou.s improvement, and readily invite the teachers of Chviftianity ; but thir. readlncff, tlioiigh it affords ample encouragement to the milllonary, is obviüülly to be referred ratlicr to a general principle of emulation and ambition, than to any approbation of the ChrilUan doörincs, of which tlie natives are as yet ignorant. They appear to admit the wickednefs of the Slave Trade, as much as they do that of any other criminal praftice, purfuing the trailic for the lake of its proilts, contrary to fome glimmering light of their conlcience, if not in diredl defiance of their convidlions. A few quotations ftiall here be given, illuf-trating certain points in their charader which have been fpoken of. It has been mentioned in an early part of this Report, that a charge of having caufed the death of the late king Naimbanua's fon was brought againll the captain of tlie Company's pany's fliip who carried him over, in coiife-qiicnce of the grouncilefs fuggeftion of a black. The following is a brief account of the circumfbnces attending this injurious charge. The black from whofe fuggeftion it originated, had cro/red the fca in tlie fame fhip with king Naimbanna's fon, and had been offended during the pafTage, by the captain's urging him to do duty as a fiulor ; he had alfo feeii the captain give fome medicine to the patient, which was followed by a trifling ficknefs of ftomach. It is fuppofed that his ill will may have therefore prompted him to form fome fufpicions to the prejudice of the captain, which were raflily communicated after his arrival at Sierra Leone to the relations of the deceafed. Incantations were immediately reforted to, as the means of afcertiiining whether the charge fuppofed to lie againll the captain was founded or not. The dead body was given into the hands of a Ikilfnl necromancer, and being placed in an ere£t pofture, it was fucceihvely afked. Whether the Sierra Leone Company — whether the governor—whether the phy-lician—whether a fcrvant of the Cotnpany who attended the patient, had caufcd his death. 7"he corpfe continuing motionlcfs, it was then aikcd, wliether the captain of the lliij) was the guilty perfon, on wJiicli t!ic body is faid to have given a nod of allcnt. A tiircatcniiig letter was now writtcit in the name of the relations, to the Governor and Council, Council, in which compenfatlon was afked for the murder, but it was handlomely intimated, that it was not the Company thesn-felvcs, but feme of the flave-captains who were fuppofed to liave inftigated the Company's fervant to put the fon of the king of Sierra Leone to death. The Governor and Council did not fail to refift the claim made upon them, but they were obliged to permit the calling of a palaver, at which a great concourfe of armed natives attended. The debate was opened with great folcmnity in the name of the mother of the deceafed, by a neighbouring chief, who delivered himfelf in the Timmany language, flopping to let each fentence be interpreted as he went on. His fpeech was nearly as follows :—That the queen (the mother of the deceafed) had no palaver againII the Company, liad no palaver againft the governor, had no palaver again ft feveral others who one by one were named > but that the queen had a palaver againft the captain of the fliip, becaufe he had poifoned her fon with a cup of tea while he was at fea ; that the queen demanded therefore the payment of 600 bars (near lool.) which inuft be fent her immediately, and on this condition flie would drop her intention of making war againft the Company, and that the palaver would then be ended. It was added, that if the captain fhould prefume to deny the crime now fo clearly proved againft him, he muft be fent up to the town of the queen. (juecn, in order to ftand Ms trial l)y drinking red water,* according to the known laws of the Tiinmany conntry. The captain who was itanding by, evidently felt foine ejnotion at hearing the laft article of the demand ; but a buril; of laughter arifing at this moment among the natives who flood round, made it fufticiently plain that they did not at all ex-petil the captain's compliance. The Governor and Council infiiled on calling evidence on the fpot to remove the lufpiclon. The black who had firft excited it was brought forward, and explained away all Ins former infmuations ; the innocence of the captain was eftablilhcd by many other witneffes, and the natives bccame evidently aihamed of their condniSb; and on the following day the queen herielf came down to Freetown, pro-feffed the utmoft conlidencc in tlie Governor and Council, and defircd them to take another fon under their proteftion. It • It has been already noticed, that tlus trinl of red water confills in making the fuJptfttd peiCoii drink a quantity of water with an infufion in it, winch is fuppofcd to be of a poifon-oas kind. If the unhappy objeft of fulpicion is aftečled, as he often is, in a innnner which tlie natives confider to be an implication of guilt, his brains are knocked out on the fpot; it often happens however that he dies, as in the iniUncc before mentioned, of the immediate elTecls of the poifon ; in cither of thefc Cafes all his fiimily are fold as Haves. Natives of the higher clafs are faid frequently to fnrvive thefe trials, and it is fuppofed that they fuid means to prevent the poifbnous ingredient Irora being put iiito the water. -(■ The liireäors with not to fail in acknowledging ,nny in-flance of friendly conduct in the flavc-fa£tories towards the Company; It is not eafy to conceive how their imagination has been filled with extravagancies of the moll weak and ridiculous kind. A notion is entertained that one of the iflands in the river would fink under water, if the king of the neighbouring fhore were to fet his foot upon it. Another little ifland higher up the ftream, is fuppofed to be the habitation of j. legion of devils, and if any man Ihould attempt to carry off from it the leaf of a tree, it is held, that his boat would infallibly link in coming away, and that he would be drowned. The following quotation prefents a lamentable pičlure of extraordinary fiiperflitiou and ignorance in the head-man of a neighbouring town. " 1 waited on tliis perfon and found him " at dinner, a king (or chief) of the upper " country being at the table with him, and " alfo a Mahometan prieft, whom he and " the other chiefs of the parts adjacent are " now employing in making grigris (or " charms), and in afliRing at their facrilices " to the devil. After dinner the liead-mau produced his mafs book, and prayed tijr " fome time with fceniing devotion; he cx- Company; tlicy are therefore defirous of remarking, that on the occafion of this injurious charge againll thtlr Csipcain, they were befriended by the Agent of the neighbouring liritiiti llave.faflory ; and tliey tiikc this occafioii of adding, that they have in general experienced every civility from the proprietors of llave-faileries rtfidtnt in En^itttd. prelFed " preÜcJ great concern that he had not been " able to meet with a I'opUh confeffor ibi" " ibme years, but he told me of Iiis having " Idft orders, that as foon as ever he fliould " die, two of his flaves fhould be lent to St. " Jago, in order to urge the Roniilh pricR " there, to do every thing that might be " neccirary to ftnooth his way to heaven. " He makes no more doubt of the power of " a regular abfolution, than he does of his " exiftence, and he appears well aequalnted with all the Romifli fuperflitlons ; but his " tenets are ftrangely difguifed by the union of thefe with the abfurdities and idolatry of his own country. He at the fame time faid, that he was very anxious to promote " the introduction of the gofpel into Africa, " and offered to engage in any plan that would promote it; he propofed to give a hcufe and land to any teacher or fchool-" mailer that we might fend, whom he told me that he would take under his own pro" tečtlon. Amidrt all this ignorance, he {hewed a confcioufnefs of the criminality " of the Slave Trade, having fpoken to the " following cfTed on that fubjedl: What " more have I to do with the Slave Trade ; it is time that I fhould le^ve it off and fet-" tie my account with God: I am old and " ought to think only of heaven." The feveral fuccceding quotations will confirm fome points already touched upon, and will very fully lliew the delire of inftručlion which which prevails among the natives, as well as the good underftanding which fubfifts between them and the Company. A female mulatto has been mentioned, the miftrefs of a large town in the iMandingo country, who was once in England, and. who pafled a few days in the fettleinent. " She inquired much, when fhe was there, " of the rtate of Haves in the Weft Indies, " and was much affefted at hearing that " flavery was not confined to the captives ient off from Africa, but defcended aUb to " their children ; fhe added. What muft you " judge of me ; you mufl think me very " bad, for I have jufl been taking two flaves " to the neighbouring fadtory, and I have " left them there ; but I wiih I could give " up the trade altogether." It appears from fome of the lateft accoimts, that the travellers who went to the Foulah country, profited much on their return to Freetown by her civility, their route having lain through the town of which fhe is miftrefs. She has lately been learning the Arabic language, in order to extend her influence. " During the palaver occafioned by the " death of the king's fon, which was recently " fpoken of, ibme of the chiefs who had come to I'reetown on the occafion, were " carried to fee the fchools, and were much " pleafed with an appearance fo novel to ** them, as that of three or four hundred o " children ** children engaged at their books. A head" man of fuperior information, begaa im" mediately to enter into treaty with one of " the teachers, wanting him to go up the « country to inftma the youth of the town " over which this head-man prellded." Some other applications almoll exadly limilar are mentioned. Three or four Nova Scotians are faid to be fettled up the river, who have large plantations of rice, land having been given them gratuitoufly by the natives. One of this party of lettlers is able to read, and a native who came down to Freetown, is noticed as having already, througli his alTHlance, made fome fmall proficiency in harning to read alio. The following extrafl: from the official letter of the Governor and Council, will fiiew the meaUn-es taken on tlieir part, with the view of giving inftnidion to the natives, and alio the fuccels which has followed. " You will fee by the direčllons given to " all the mailers of our vciTcIs, that we have " miffed no opportunity of inviting all the " chiefs on the neighbouring coafl, to fend " their fons hither for education, and the " invitation lias been uniformly received " whh expreflions of fatisfačtion. A chief in the Rio Nunez has already fent his fon " hitlier, and feveral others from different " parts only wait tlic approaching dry fea-" fon, to accept of our ofVers. J n the towns " belonging to the chiefs in this river, with whom " whom we are conneded, there are rerj-* " few children fit to be lent to fchoo!; the " few that are fit, we have now with us, " and feme of them make a coiirideral)le " proficiency In reading. We have promifes " of many more from the chiefs in the Bunch " and Kokelle, (the upper branches of the " Sierra Leone river), who are to come to us in the courfe of the enfuing dry feafon. " We had anticipated your advice with re" fpečt to a fchool at the plantation on the " Bulam lliore : one of the teachers has " agreed to refide there with his family, " both as mifTionaryand fchoolmafter; and the " caftom has become already univerfal among " the labourers on thut fule, to abftain from work on Sunday." The Diredors under-ftand that there are now in the fchools at Freetown, about twenty native children in all, a great iroportion of whom are the fons of chiefs. It has l)een already noticed, that more than the fame number of native children are under inftrudion on the Bulam fide of the river. The following very unhappy incident 13 mentioned with the view of fliewing tlie remarkable confidence of one of the natives in the Company :—" Soon after the commcnce-" ment of the war, fome fliells which had " been fent out, were about to be prepared " for ufe by the ačling engineer, who or" dered a Nova Scotiau working under hhn, to put them near the fire, in order that 02 " they tt " they might be dried. The Nova Scotlail having done as he was defired, proceeded " in the abfence of the; fiirvcyor (or engineer) to load them, and a fpark having got into " one of them iinpcrceived, the Ihell burft as " he vi^as filling it, killed him on the fpot, " and alfo killed the fon of a neighbouring '' chief, left but a few days before for education. The father of the boy was fent for, " who, though afle£ted, was perfectly re" figned. Some of his words are faid to be nearly as follows : Gentlemen, he was my only fon ; |I thought to have had him with you for his good, but God hath thought " otherwifc : I fee it was an accident; I do " not blame you. Be not concerned about " its happening here, had God wiftied him to live, he w^oukl have lived. In order to " ftiew you that I feel no ill will on account of this misfortune, I fhall fend my daughter " to be brought up in your fettlemcnt." A proof fhall now be added of the good underftanding that fubfifts between the natives and the Company, which cannot fail to alToi'd peculiar fatisfačtion to the proprietors. " Tw^o flrange vefTels having appeared in fight, which were fufpeäed to be French, the neighbouring king, or chief, (the fame perfon who caufed the difperfion of the fu'fl colony, and alfo fet on foot the palaver w^hich impeded the former eflabliihment of " the prefent) fent a party of men to the af-" fiftancc of the Governor and Council, with " a a meflage thnt lie was himfelf about to fol-" low with a further force, and that if it " fhould be ncccffary, he would raife the ** whole country in the colony's defence, " When it was found that the vcffels were " friendly, being prizes recently taken from " the French, the natives wlio had comc to " Freetown went away faying, Well, your " friends are our friends, and your eaemies " fliall be our enemies." The Diredors have the (litisfadtion of adding, that the Company have hitherto been on very friendly terms with the fiirrounding natives in general. To the preceding iiiformatioa received from Sierra Leone, rcfpcčling the general difpoli-tion of the natives, the Direftors will add fome ohfervations on the charader of an individual African, who was placed for eighteen months under their own care in England. The late J. H. Naimbanna, fon of the former king of Sierra Leone, when at the fuppofed age of twenty-four, was induced, by the fiiggeftions of a free black belonging to the lirft body of fettlers from London, to determine on going over to England, with the view of acquiring an education ; intending to commit himfelf to the liberality of an Englifli gentleman, to whom he had heard that the free black had been indebted for fome degree of fchooling. He was on the point of coming to an agreement with the mafter of a Aave-veßel, who was to receive three flavesi ;is the price of his paffagc through the Weft o 3 Indies. Indies hither, when a fliip fcnt out by the Sierra Leone Company to explore the country, arrived in Sierra Leone river. Having been brought by this veflcl to England, he was placed under the carc of two clergymen fuccelHvely, who have furniflicd the chief part of tlie information concerning him, wliich will now be communicated to the Court. A defire of knowledge was the predominant feature in his character. His inflruftora have mentioned that he would continually urge them to prolong the time employed in reading together. He was alfo forward in declaring his obligations to every one who would aflill him in the acquifition of ufeful learning ; he would exprefs regret if he had been led into any company where the time had pafled away without improvement; and nhen it happened that he was left intirely to himfelf, he would employ not lefs than eight or ten hours of the day in reading. Though the diladvantages ariilng from the long negleft of his mental faculties were apparent, he fhewed figns of very good natural fenfe; he had alfo a faculty at diftinguilhing charadters ; and his mind, as might naturally be expected, was ready to receive imprefPions from thofe perfons of whom he had conceived a good opinion. He had few advantages ofperfon, bat he was uncommonly pleaiing in his behavioui', fbewing much natural courtefy and even delicacy of manner«; he was alfo of a kind and affectionate difpofition. He was quick in all his feelings. feelings, and his temper was occafionally warm, fome degree of jealoufy alfo entering Into his charatJ};cr: in particular he was indif-pofed to anfwer queftions put to him by ftrangers concerning the Rate of his own country ; for he was apt to fufpe£t that they meant to draw comparifons between England and Sierra Leone, unfavourable to the character of the latter, and he would therefore, on fuch occaiions, often turn the con-verfation, by remarking, that a country fo unfavourably circumftanced as Sierra Leone bad hitherto been, was not to be fuppofed capable of having made any attainments worthy of being the fubječt of converliicion in Great Britain. The following anecdote will (liew ftill more ftrongly the extreme fenlibility which he felt, when any circumftance arofe which touched the honour of his country; and it will alio explain the grounds of his peculiar jealoufy on this fubječi:. The name of a perfon having been mentioned in his prelence, who was undcrftood by him to have publicly afferted fouiething very degrading to the general chara£ler of the Africans, he broke out into fome violent and vindid:ive language againft this perfon. He was immediately reminded of the Chriftiau duty of forgiving his enemies, upon which he anfwered nearly in the following words : " If a man, laid he, (hould rob me of my ** money, I can forgive him; if a man IhouM 04 * flioot fhoot at me, or try to Aab me, 1 can fbr-'' give lilm ; if a m.in (hould Icll me antl all my family to a flavc-Hiip, fo that wc fliould " pals all the rell of our days in fliivery in the Weft Indies^ I can forgive him; but " (added he, rifmg from his feat with mucli emotion) if ii man takes away the charac-" ter of the people of my country, I never " can forgive hiin," Being; afked wliy lie ■would not extend his forgivenefs to tliole who took away the character of his country, he anfwered, " If a man Hiould try to kill me, " or (hould fell me and my family for Haves, he would do an injury to as many as he " might kill or fell; but if any one takes away the charader of black people, that " man injures black people all over the world; " and when he has once taken away their character, there is nothing which he may not do to black people ever after. That man, for inftance, will beat black men, and " fay, O, it is only a black man, why ihould not 1 beat him? Tliat man will make fiaves " of black people ; for when he has taken " away their charader, he will fay, O, they " are only black people, why Ihould not 1 " make them Haves? I'hat man will take awav " all the people of Africa, if he can catch them ; and it you aflc him, IJut why do vou take away all thefe people, he will fay, " Ö, they are only black people, they are not like white people, why fliould not I take them? I'hat is the reafon why I cannot " forgive forgive the man who takes away the cha-" radier of the people of my country," The improvement which he made during his rerulence in England, was in every refi^cdt confiderahle ; though at the time when he arrived he laboured under the difadvantage of knov<'ing but little of the Knglifh language, he learnt, in the fpace of the year and half whii:h he palled in England, to read very fluently, and to write a letter without much difliculty. The alteration which, during the fame time, took'place gradually in his mind, was in the whole alfo very great. When lie flrft landed he had mod of the fame peculiarities of cha-račler which have been afcribed to the Africans in general; he believed in witchcraft, and he Iiad no idea of forgiving injuries j he had even endeavoured when he was in Africa to make himfelf, as he exprefled it, as proud as he could. Before his departure from England, his pride, as well as his revengeful fpirit> ]iad evidently fuhfided, and were becomc wrong and odious in his eyes : his belief in witchcraft had entirely left hini, and he appeared to feel a confulerable degree of fear and difEdcnce, in refpe£l to his own future condučl. Iiis morals were pure, he had carefully ahflained from drunkennefs, even while he lived at Sierra Leone, and he fliewcd, when Jie was in l^'.ngland, a very ftrong abhorrence both of profane converlation and every kind of vice; as appeared more particularly about the time of his departure, from the evidence of of fome flviklng and undeniable fačts. That his mind was imprefled with religious principles, might be prefumed, in fome meafure, from feveral of the preceding remarks: he paid great refpeit to the teachers of Chrif-tianity, whom he wiilied mucli to invite over to his country ; he had alio the utmoft reverence for the Scriptures, with which he had become very convcrfant, and he would dii-courfe on religious fubjedts with much open-nefs and fimpJicity ; he was at the fame time free from entkufiafm. According to the account of the inftrudor with whom he palfed the latter part of his time, he appeared to be improving iu every refpefl, when the news of his father king Naimbanna's death arrived, and called him away fuddenly to Sierra Leone. If the deplorable fituation of his country, at the time when he left it, together with the change which had now arifen in his own difpofitions and views be contemplated, it muft be evident that many new duties and obligations would be likely to fuggeft them-felves to his mind, and to excite a peculiar degree of anxiety when he was on the eve of his return. A few days before his embarkation, he converfed much with fome of his friends in England, concerning the line of conduct which it would be his duty to adopt after his arrival at Sierra Leone ; and it appeared that there was no perfonal facrifice which, if the principles of Chrif- tiauity tc u tiaiilty required it, he was not prepared to make. The Directors will here Introduce an ex-tračt from the dlfpatches of their Governor and Council, defcrlbing fome circumftances which arofe during his paffage, and giving the account of his death, " According to the information of a fcr-" vant of the Company, who failed in the lame fhip with him, he had left Plymouth in perfed health, hut as foori as he reached a warm climate he began to feel a flight complaint in his throat, and occafiorial pains in his head; his mind was at the " fame time anxious and uneafy, for he was " evidently difmayed at the profpe£t of thofe difficulties with which he expelled that he " fliould have to combat after his return, " Numberlefs were the plans which he amu" fed himfelf with devifmg, for the purpofe " of fpreading Chriflianlty, and opening the " eyes of his rude countrymen ; but he feemed conftantly to be tortured by the idea that fomethlng would obftručt his defigns, and the dread of uifappointnient lecmed to prefy upon him more itrongly in " proportion as he drew nigh to his nafive " ihores; the heat alfo began to aflečl him " very violently, and a fever enfued, which " was attended with a delirium. In one of his lucid intervals, he deiircd the perfon " who (( (t " wlio gave this account, to aflifl: him in " making his will, by which he entrufted " Iiis property to his brother, for the ufe of " a young child his fon, and he introduced " into the will an earn eft requeft that his " brother would exert every endeavour to " put an end to the Slave Trade. When he " readied Sierra Leone he was infenfible of " every thing tliat pafTed, and his Ufe was dcfpaired of. His mother, together with " feme younger branches of the family, came " down to the Governor's houfe, where he " was hii.d, and, after a few hours attendance " on Iiis dying bed, they faw him breathe " his laft. " The Governor and Council mention tiiat nothing could exceed the agitation and diflrcfs ilicv^-^n by his mother on the event of bis deatli. Thus terminated the days of this amiable and enlightened African, from whofe exertions, if he had lived, the Company might liave expected tlie moft: impoitant and exten-iivc fervices. It may be remarked however, tliat, notwithftandlng Iiis untimely and much to he lamented death, he has rendered at Icaft one Important fervice to his country, by iiirniniing a memorable inftance of the eflei^ of education on the mind of Africans, and a moft encouraging and happy omen in favour of his benighted countrymen. Two Africans, of whom the eldeft is about elgliteen years old, arc now in England, where where they are leceivuig their education, under the clire£lions of the Company ; the one is the fon of the prefent king of Sierra Leone ; the other of a chief who lives very near to Freetown. The Directors avUI only remark concerning thefe young perfons, that they advance regularly in their learning, and that although they arc faid to be different from each other in their tempers, tliey both appear to be fully equal to Europeans of their own age, in point of talents and natural un-derftandijig. The Direäors liave now laid before the Court the whole of the information which they have to ofler: they liave ftated brleHy the hiftory of the fettlement, together with the expenfcs of eftablifhing it, and the general fuuation of the funds of the Company. They have alfo fpoken under diftinčl heads of the climate of Sierra Leone, of the mea-fures taken with a view to trade, and of the progrefs made in cultivation, and, finally, of the opening profi)e£l:s of civilization : tliey have had the fatisfačlion of ihewing, in tlic concluding part of the laft and principal head, that many chiefs on the African coall are difpofed to co-operate in the general de-figns of the Company ; that a connexion is alio courted by the Foulah as well as other nations j that fome of the paths into the interior tenor of Africa, which had been clofctl through the wafs, have been lately opened j that projcfts of further difcovery have been fet on foot; and that while all thefe pro-mifing circnmftances have been taking place, the Slave Trade has been matefially declining, feveral fadories having been broken up, and many flaves, who have been returned, or withheld for want of a market, having been added to the productive labourers of the country. From the advantages which have been reaped during this temporary declenfion of the Slave Trade, the Directors are naturally led to the contemplation of the bleffings which are to be looked for on the event of its total abolition. Whenever that happy period fhall come, when the peace of Africa, inftead of beuig fufpended as it is now on the event of the war in Europe, fhall be more permanently fecurtd and provided for through the final termination of this traffic, confequences very fiinilar indeed to thofe which have arifen during the fufpenfion of the Slave Trade, but far more important and extenfive, are obvioufly to be expected: a ftiU greater fpring will then no doubt be given to African induftry ; the native chiefs, having no other means of liipplying their want of European goods, will refort to regular trade and indultry, not partially and as a matter of preference as they do now, but generally generally and of neceflity ; and the European liavc-faftorles, which have been hitherto the grcatefl impediments to civilization, and the principal fupport of all the more diffolutc kings and chiefs, will at the fame time altogether ceafe. When this sera fliall arrive, an a;ra which the Direilors can by no means allow them-felves to confider as diflant, it feems pro-hahle that the inftitution of the Sierra Leone Company may acquire much additional importance, and that the advantages of having already planted a Britilli colony on the African coaft, may prove to be extremely great. It will undoubtedly be then the duty of the Dircdors in all refpeä:s to avail themfelvcs of the opportunities which will arife, both by extending their own commerce, by fiiggefting plans of cultivation to the chiefs, and by endeavouring alfo to eftablifli fchools, to fup-p]y inftrudors, and to promote the intro-duftion of Chriftianity into Africa, fo far as the influence of the Sierra Leone Company may reach. The Direčtors v/ill now clofe this Report, and they truft that all the circumftances Rated in the courfe of it being duly weighed, they lliall not be thought to have either failed elfentially in the requifite exertions, or to have made an improper ufe of the confidence repofed in them by the Proprietors. The anxiety anxiety of the Directors, and indeed tlitilr labour alfo, have been oecafionally conlider-able; but thefe have been amply compcn-fated by reflections on the magnitude of that caufe in which they have found tlieinfelves engaged, and by the continually hnproving prolpect of being able, by the blelbng of Providence, to lay foinc foundation for the future happinefs of a Continent, which has hitherto derived nothing bur mifery from its intercourfe with Great Britain. APPENDIX. APPENDIX. THE Direftors think proper to introduce the following account of the Natural Productions of Sierra Leone, by way of Ap-pcndix, being the fubftance of two Reports made to theiu by Mr. Afzelius, their Bo-tanirt. ANIMALS. Quadrupeds.—Thofe which are tame and are ufeJ for food, are Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Hogs, Ducks, Turkies, and Fowls. Cattle thrive well, and even grow fat, but not fo commonly as in Europe. There are a number of Bulls, Oxen, and Cows grazing in the Savannahs. Sheep aflume a very ftrange appearance, thanging their fine woollen coat into rough P hairs. Iiiürs, refembling that of goats: they fecin to fuffer from the heat, are commonly lean, and do not Increafe much. Goats and Hogs, on the contrary, are very prolific, and grow as fine and as large as in any other countries. The lettlement is fuppofed to be fufliciently flocked with thefe animals. Fowls multiply to an amazing number; and Ducks, particularly Mufcovy Ducks, thrive; but common Gccfc and Turkies have not anfwered the Company's expedlations, probably for want of proper management. Porcupines, Wild Hogs, Squirrels, and Antelopes, may alio be claffed among the animals found at Sierra Leone fit for food. Hie fltin of the latter appears to be proper for gloves. Some few AlTes, which have been fent to the colony, are made ufcful for the purpofes of labour, and do not fuffer by the climate ; though they are not equal to Mules. The Beafts of prey are I.ions, I.copards, Ilyjenas, Mufk Cats, and many kinds of Weazcls, whicli lall are very deilruÖive of poultry. The Ikins of fome of thcfe might be of ufc in a commercial view. Hiere are two fpecics of Mulk Cats at Sierra Leone, the Civet and the Zibeth Cat, from which an inferior fort of Mulk may be obtained j the latter produces the better mufk of the two. To the ariicle of Quadrupeds iliould be added the Ja])anzec, or Chimpanzee, common in. ill the mountains, an animal more nearly related to the human race than even the Ou-rang Outang. Of two that were brought alive into the colony, one died foon, the other being older lived ibme months. Fie was nearly two feet high, but thofe which are full grown arc nearly five feet in height; he was covered with black hair, long and thick on the back, but iliort and thin on the brcaft and belly: his facc was hare; his hands and his head rclcnibled thofe of an old black man, except that the hairs on Ids head were llraight: he ate, drank, and ficpt, and fate at table, after the fame manner as a human being: at firil he crawled on all fours, always walking on the outfide of his hands ; but when grown larger, he endeavoured to go eredl, fupporting himfelf by a flick, which he carried in his hand. He fccmcd to be of a melancholy difpofition^ but was always goodnatured, doing no perfon au) injury. This fpecies of Ape, although not entirely unknown in Europe, has ufually been confounded with that of other Apes. Birds.—Of thefe the DireOors have as yet received no perfect account. It is mentioned that there is a Crave of an extraordinary appearance, which becomes very tame, and is reckoned very good food. Ampiiiuious Animals.—Of this kind there are Green Turtles, and thofe callcd Hawk's Bill, or Loggerheads, which are both very common, and fometimes of an immenfe V c fize. fize, welgliing feveral hundred pounds. Frefh-water Turtles, and Land Turtles, are to be found at Sierra Leone; tKc latter in great abundance ; and it is thought that they niight be imported into England to good profit. Crocodiles, or Alligators, of a noii-defcript fpecies, ten of twelve feet in length, have been found ; and Lizards of fix fpccies, among wliich are the Guava and the Camel eon. Snakes are almofl: innumerable ; they haunt the hoiifes during the night in fearch of poultry, of which they are very fond ; the largefl yet difcovered meafured eighteen feet, which did not prove venemous, but was of that kind which fwallow their prey entire. Insects are very numerous; the greater part of them are exceedingly beautifji, and are non-defcripts. The molt remarkable are the Termites, which deftroy wooden houfes and fences ; Ants^ which deftroy provifions ; Cocki'oaches and Crickets, which dellroy clothes, linen, and more efpecially leather; Mufquitos, Sandflies, Scorpions, Tarantulas, and Centipedes ; alio wild Bees, which furnilli plenty of wax and honey. The Vermes are little known ; the Barnaclcs are very large, and injurious to veflels not copper-bottomed. Fishts are in great variety, both in the fea and the river. The Spcrmaceti Whale has been occafionally found at Sierra Leone, but it is met with more fretjuently down the coaft. Befidcs the Whale, as well as the Shark, Stinging-Ray, and Porpoife, there are Eels, Eds, Horfe-Mackarel, Tarpoons, Gaviilos, Mullets, Snappers, Yellowtails, Oldmaids, Ter pounders, and fome other iifhes, all of which, except the Eels and Tenpounders, are efteemed line eating, Oyfters are found in great abundance. '1 Iiere is alfo another fhell fifh, which the natives ufe for food. Among the Zoophites none is more worthy of notice than the common Spunge, which covers all the fandy beaches of the Sierra Leone river, particularly thofe on the Bulam iKore. This ijpunge would fetch a high price in Great Britain. VEGETABLES. Of efculent vegetables Rice occupies the firft place, as it is the chief of the plants cultivated at Sierra Leone, and the ftaple commodity of the country, forming, when boiled and feafoned with pepper, the principal food of the inhabitants, the lower clafs of whom fubfift almoft entirely upon it. Although this plant profpers beft in low and inundated places, it will thrive alfo on elevated land, though in common with other plants of the aquatic khid, it will in that cafe grow fmaller and thinner, producing at the fame time better and more nutritious griiln. Of this quality is the rice now found on the eminences of Sierra Leone, while on the plains of tlie Bulam ihore, and other fuch tračts, it grows as luxuriantly as in Carolina, and if a proper apparatus were employed, it might hy equal carc» be ren-p 3 dered dered equally white ; but at prefent, through the neg igence of the natives, both the rice intended for their own confiiinption, and that for trade, retains part of the browtiiih bran, or rind. The Rice fields are prepared during the dry feafon, and receive the feed in the tornado feafon, which is antecedent to the rains ; but the feafons varying; in different years, the time for fowing is irregular. In the year 1792, Rice was fown in June, and reaped in October. 2. Caifava, or CafTada. This conftitutes, after Rice, the chief lood of the inhabitants, and the culture of it requires time and care. It fucceeds beft in faiuly and open places. In the courfe of three or four months after it has been planted the roots grow fit for ufe, and are often eaten in their raw Hate. The natives do not reap the whole harveft at once, but dig up a few roots as they want them; but after the approach of the fucceeding rainy feafon they clear the whole held, never extending their plantations beyond the fuppofed exigencies of a fingle year. The natives fometimcs make cakes of Caffada, which thougl\ dry, are well tailed and extremely white : they alfo boil or roaft this article. A kind of ale might poflibly be prepared from it, as is done by the Arawalks of Surinam. 3. Yams. Thefe refemble potatoes, and nre a good fubftitute for them, being dry, farinaceous, and nutritious. I'hough elfe-where there are many fpecies of Yams, there is is but one in Sierra Leone; the Jargeft root in the Company's gardens weighed only about four pounds, the Ibil being probably too hard i'or it. The natives do not beftow lb much pains on the culture of Yams as on that of Callada. The only way in whicli they, as well as the fettlers, prepare tliem for eating, Is by boiling and fometimes roafting them ; but Yams might be made either into Hour or llarcli; perhaps even a good fpirituous liquor miglit be diililled from them. 4. bweet Potatoes. Thefe are good and ufeful roots, in no particular, however, re-fcmbling the true potatoes. The natives boil them, but in the colony they are roafted, and they arc alio made into a kind of bread, which is nutritious, and of a t .ilerably good tafle. Sweet Potatoes thrive beft in a loofe foil, but the natives are as inattentive to the manner of cultivating them as to that of Yams. The leaves boiled make a good difli on the table, and afford an excellent nourlfliment for flieep, goats, or pigs. 5. Ground Nuts. Thefe are eaten by the natives, either raw or roafted. 6. Eddoes. Though abundant they are not lo much ufed as they deferve to be ; the leaves, if they are young, are as good as fpinnach ; and the roots, when boiled, referable cheinuts. They are fit for ui'e when three months old, but are beft after four or five months growth. " and 8, Country Potatoes of two dilFerent r 4 forts ; forts; namely, firfl, Ajuck, a round root, fomewhat digger than a hazel nut, found ui abundance in low places, with a long Item, which creeps round it on the ground; its tafte is better than that of fweot potatoes, and it h lefs folid. And fccondly, Abunck, which grows on the branches of the tree in a ftrange manner, and is a lingular excrefccnce of an irregular, angular, and tuberous fhape. It taftes fomewhat like Sweet Potatoes. 9. Oil Palm. A common, handfome, and ufcful tree, indicating a good foil. It lup-plies the inhabitants with oil, wine, and food. The wine In appearance perfedly rel'embles whey, has a good tafte wlien frefli, but is apt to ferment and grow four, and to changc in three or four days 10 the ilrongcft vinegar, of a difagreeable fmell. It is colleded by tapping the tree. The oil is obtained from the fruit, which is of the fize of a hazel nut, confifllng of a hard kernel, enclofed in a thick, fat, and oleaginous matter, covered with a thin ikin, which dilTolves and yields the oil, which is ufed by the natives by way of butter to their rice. This oil, though liquid at firft, in a fiiort time hardens, and turns rancid : a fupcrior oil is made, though in fmall quantities, by l)ruiiing and boiling the kernels in wa(er. The interior and medullary fubRance of the top of young Pahu trees being boiled i« water, forms a dith rcfeinbling Cabbage : the lc:|vcs ferve the natives lor bafkets. i. o &; loaiiclii. Plantains and Eananas. Thefe grow very commonly, and are two iifeiul trees, nearly related to the Palm. The fruit of the Plantains is larger than that of the Bananas, more regular, bent at the baic, and fewer in cach clufter, harder, and lefs lufclous; it is eaten raw, boiled, or roaflcd. Bananas are amonj^ tlie fuperior fruits of this country, foft and fweet, and generally eaten raw: above one hundred grow in a clufler. 7 he leaves are employed for varlovis economical purpofes ; and the fibres of them are ufed in fome places for thread. i 2. Papaw. A fine fruit of a deep green, but when npc of a yellow colour. This is eaten raw, but makes a good difh when boiled; the leaves arc ufcd for waihing inftcad of foap, the hollow ftalks for pipes, and ropes may be made of the bark. i;^. Guavas. Some green fruit of this kind has I)een dlfcovcred in a neighbouring bay. 14 and 15. Orange and Lime Trees. Thefc are very common in their wild Aate, bearing ripe fruit throughout the year, though not in C(]ual abundance at all fealbns. The Orangem are excellent, and better, at leafl: larger, than (hofe brought to Europe. Some Lemons, planted a long time ago by the Portiiguefe iu the neighbourhood of the fettlemcut, have degenerated fo much as almoil to relemhie Limes. 16. Pumpions or Pumpkins. 1 hefe arc to be found wild wborever the ground is iooil' ; looft ; feme of them grow to the length of fifty feet, but the fniit, on an average, do not attain to the fame hze as in Europe, though they are more folid. They are iiied for pies and puddings, and may be had throughout the year. 17, 18, 19, 20. Sqnalli, Water Melon, Cucumber, and Mufk Melon. Thefe four {pedes arrive at the greatert perfection, and by proper care might be made to lurpafs thofe of European growth. The firrt fettlers found on their arrival no Water Melons, but took the feeds with them. 21. Pine Apples. Thefe are far better flavoured than thofe of Europe, l)Ut tougher in the middle. They are to i>e found all the year g,T0wing wild in the woods, and on declivities iri the neighbourhood of water ; tliey are alfo planted by the natives near their towns. 22, Pigeon Pea. This is a good whole-feme pulfe, and is dreifed in the iame manner as Englifli peas or beans. Thele peas grow wild in the ikirts of woods, and in old Rice and CafTada fields, and may be had throughout the year. 22- Maize or Indian Com. This is cultivated more on the Bulam thore than near I reetown ; it requires but three months to ripen it, fo that fereral liarvefts are afforded in one year. The grain is l)oiled in fait water, or roafted in the ear and eaten with butter, but fometimcs it is eaten raw. The natives natives of the Cold Coaft 'oruife it and make puddings of it. Goats and cattle cat tlie leaves with avidity. 24. Millet of two kinds. This is found wild and ufed for poultry ; the ftalks of the larger ibit contain a fweet and rcfrcQiing juice. 25. Cocoa Trees grow in Sherbro, where they have been planted. The fruit is cither eaten raw or made into pies. 26. Cafliew Nuts, according to Lieutenant Matthews, were introduced by the Europeans, but none have been feen at Sierra Leone, except thofe brought over from the Bulam, fliore. 27. Okras. The fruit of a little tree re-fembling the F.nglifh ^eairee Mallows, very common at Sierra Leone. The pods jjut into foup render it gelatinous and highly nourifliing ; the leaves boil like Spinnach. 28. Sugar Canes. Thefc have been found, ihougli not in great quantities, in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone ; they arc fuppofcd to be of a good quality, and probably will thrive exceedingly, as foon as the land in which they have been planted fliall have been fome time in cultivation. 29. Butter and Tallow Tree. This is common in low lands about Freetown ; it abounds with a juice refembling Gamboge in taint and durability, which exudes after the leafl: laceration, and becomes more coagulated, vifcous, and of a darker colour. 7 lie wood of this tree is firm, and fcems adapted to to various economical puqioies. The fruit is iiearly oval, about twice the frze of a man's hü ; the rind is thick, pulpy, and of a plea-iant acid ; in the infide are found from five to nine feeds, of the fize of a Walnut, containing an oleaginous matter, extraited by the natives, and ufed with their rice or other food. 30. Tamarinds. Of thefe there Is a great variety. The Velvet Tamarind and common Tamarind grow plentifully on the ifland of Bananas. Ikfides thcfe there are White Tamarinds, which being of an indifferent tarte are much ncglečted, but the tree is valuable for many purpofes. There arc alfo Brown Tamarinds, which arc fweet and highly ofteemed. There is alfo a hard and iniipid fruit refcmbling a Tamarind, eaten by the natives, which they call Maflino. 31. Figtree. The fruit of this tree, which fcarceiy exceeds a hazel nut in fi/.e, is agreeable like other figs, but it can hardly be eaten, owing to the number of fmall infečts with which it is commonly filled. Country Figs. Thcfe in no refpedl: refeiiibie the true Figs, except in the number of their gritty feeds. This fruit is of the lize of an apple, nearly round, and agreeable to tlie taltc ; when fufiiciently ripe refembling the Furojican Strawberry. The tree is new and non-defcript ; it is found growing in the bell foil in the woods. 33- Hog Plums. Thefe arc rather fmallcr than European Plums, of a yellow colour, and not unpleafant flavour, though I'oine-what infipid : the natives are very fond of theui. The tree on which they grow has, in feme relpečl, the appearance of the Afh. 34. Country Pkims. Of thefc there are many kinds, befides thofe juft mentioned. They contain generally one or more kernels ; they are commonly of the fize of an hazel nut. As the difference in the feveral forts is inconfiderable, it may be fufficient to mention the names of feven fpecies, which are, I ft, Befabis—2d, Drap—3d, Abookc—4th, Machai, or Mackanter—5th, Magi tit—6th, Malinta—7th, Wanibe. There arc certainly many more not yet particularly known. 35. Country Grapes. Thefc are round and black, of an acid and acrid tafte; they might certainly be improved, but never fo as to refemble grapes, for they belong to a genus totally different. 36. Sorrel. This contains an acid fimilar to that of real Sorrel, but refemblcs it in no other refpečt. Tlie plant is common enough. 37. Calceloo. A plant which affords the befi: fubftitute for Spinnach, if properly dreffed ; it grows in clearcd grounds, and an abundance of it indicates a good loil: natives, Europeans, and fcttler^ agree in commending it. 38. Purflain. Purllam. A ycry common plant ofl hills near the fliore. It appears above grountl three days after having been fown. It is laid, when bruifcd, to have been applied to frelh wounds with iutcefs. ■^g. Maunnee Apple. There is a well known and much efleemed fruit of this fort in the Weft Indies ; but that of Sierra Leone is of a different fpecics, though no way inferior in fize cjr flavour to the Weft Indian Apple of the fame name. 40, 41, 42. Cairuto, Bumelia, and Icaco or Pigeon Plums. Three Weft Indian fruits. The laft is rather infipld, but improves greatly by cultivation, 43, 44. Antidefma, of the fame tafte with Red Currants, and Mantanka, being alfo tolerably good. 45. Country Cherries. Thefe furpafs all the fruits of Sierra Leone ; a fme Nedlarine is the fruit to which a Country Cherry can beft be compared. 46. The Bread Fruit Tree. This has, at a diftance, the appearance of an old Appletree. A fpecies of it grows plentifully on the Bulam fiiore, and in low and fandy places. The fruit is about the frze of an Apple, and when freHi is exceedingly good and nutritious, having almoft the fame tafte as gingerbread, but it lofes much of its flavour when old. 47. The Cream Fruit. This is ftill larger and quite round : there are always two of the the fruits united together anil hanging down at the end of a fmall branch ; when "wounded the)f yield a quantity of Rne white juice, refembling Higar, or the beft n\iik; the natives are very fond of it, and ufe it to quench their thirft. The tree is very lofty, and grows in abundance, particularly on the Illands of Plantains. There is a fet of plants called by the Rotanifts Amomum, which all partake of a fpicy nature, in a different degree, and are of three divifions. To the fird belongs that fpecies, the virtue of which is contained in the roots, and generally called Gingers. To the lecond, that of which the virtue lies in the iinall feeds, fuch as Grains of Paradife, or JVIalaguctta Pepper. The third is that fpecies which has an aromatic flavonr in its feeds, and called Cardamoms. The true Ginger grows in the Sufee country, though not yet found in Sierra Leone. Malaguetta Pepper is found of four difTerent forts; lit, Maboobo, the feeds of which are pretty large, oblong, and of an agreeable but weak flavour. 2d, Mailaaba, fmaller than the prc-cecding, but otherwife much like it j the pulp in the pod, when frefli, is of a fine acid. 3d, Mafia Annjuena, the feeds of which are of the fame nature as thofe laft mentioned, but rather more angular and pungent; the leaves and ftems are endowed with the fincfl aroma, both in refpedt to fcent fcent and tafte. 4th, Tofian, which is the native and true Maliguetta Popper of Africa^ and Grahis of Paradile of the fliops. It excels all other kinds in piingcncy. A new fpecies of Nutmeg, different front all others, has been difcovered ; but whether it is as good as the couiinon fort it is at this time difficult to afccrtain. Coffee trees are found of two different fpecies, both non-defcript; but whether of any ufe is not yet afceitained. Piper Ethiopicuni. A well-known fpice^ grows on lofty trees, in great abundance on the mountains. It is ufed both by lettlers and natives inftead of Black Pepper, Mabeck. A fine fpice, though not very pungent, the virtue of which is principally iu the hufk, is ufed by the natives for many medicinal purpofes. The tree is high and valuable. ßarreliera. A fmall plant with the fame fcent as Thyme, and might be ufed for the fame purpolcs. Tomatos, with which the natives feafon their ricc, are angular and red. It is thought that Caplicums grow wild, and that from thd great demand for them in England, they miglit be worth cultivation. Medicinal Plants.-Cola Is a famous fruit, highly ef\eemed by the natives, to wliich they attribute the fame virtues as to Peruvian iJark. It is ufed for the fame purpofes pofes by the Portuguefe, who fend out fmall veflels along the coaft to collcd all the Cola they can get. Pcnivian Bark. Of this a new fort has been difcoverecl, which may perhaps prove iis nfeful as the other: the natives ufe it for the fame purpofcs. Caftor Oil. The huih which produces the nuts from which this oil is cxprefl'cd, grows every where in Sierra Leone. CalTia of the Cane. The African fpecies is nearly related to that of the Weft Indies, and will not, it is thought, be found lefs iifcful. With refpe£t to Dyes, Yellow may be extracted from the Butter fruit tree, and Blue from Indigo. Black and Red may alio be obtained from other plants. Gum Copal and Gum Senega, ufually fold in the fhops for Gum Arabic, are among the chief gums on the coaft. The True Cotton grows plentifully in Sierra Leone, as does the Silk Cotton among other Cotton fruits. The natives ufe the back of rhe Mahant for ropes and whips, and the roots of the famous Mangrove for bas in making mats. Common Tobacco grows at Sierra Leone, but the natives do not cultivate it. No report having been made by the Company's Mineralogiit, the Directors are not prepared prepared to offer any particular fpecificatlon of the Minerals found at Sierra Leone, After reading the REPORT, the Generai- Cou h t " Resolved, " That thh Court doth approve « of the Prsceedlngs of the Chairman and Court of " DheSlars i and return its Thanks ^^ than for the " great '^ca!, j^ßduity^ and Ability with which they " have conduäed the aßairs of the Company :—and " that the Report [tjj the DireSlars may think proper " to revife the fame'\ be printed fir the ufe of the « Proprietors:'