MISCELLAN Y.

BRITISH SETTLEMENTS ON THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA.

IN November, 1840, Dr. Madden, who was formerly a stipendiary magistrate in the West Indies, and subsequently connected with the Mixed Commission at Havanna, received from Lord John Russell instructions to proceed as commissioner to investigate various matters connected with the administration and condition of the British settlements on the West Coast of Africa. His inquiry was to be opened on the Gold Coast. Thence he was to proceed to Sierra Leone and the settlements on the river Gambia, with the view of ascertaining their various advantages and disadvantages. Dr. Madden was instructed by the Colonial Secretary to direct his particular attention to the slave trade, as representations had been made to government by Mr. Maclean, that facilities had been afforded to the slave traders by the magistrates and members of the Council at Cape Coast Castle. He was also to investigate the subject of mortality, and to ascertain whether the destruction of human life which occurred to Europeans in that portion of the world was to be attributed to the general nature of the coast, the peculiar situation of the settlements, or the want of care in respect to sewerage, ventilation, or medical precaution. He was directed to make inquiry as to the prospects of emigration from Sierra Leone to the British West India colonies, and to ascertain whether there were any considerable class of persons disposed to emigrate to these colonies. With these instructions, Dr. Madden sailed to the western coast of Africa. Having previously published in our columns copious extracts from the report of the Select Committee on the Western Coast of Africa, it is now our purpose to lay before the public an abstract of the appendix to that report. The appendix contains many points of extreme interest. In 1827, owing to the heavy expense incurred by Sir Charles M'Carthy in his disastrous war with the Ashantees, the English Government withdrew all the public establishments from the coast, and gave up the forts to the merchants, to be held by them as factories. It was then determined that the forts should be delivered over to the merchants on the following conditions, namely, that the two principal forts of Cape Coast Castle and Accra should remain dependencies of Sierra Leone, that British law should continue in force there, and that the affairs of the forts should be chiefly managed by a committee of merchants of London, appointed by the Government. Five of the merchants were to be formed into a council of magistrates for the purpose of regulating the internal affairs of the forts, &c. The sum of 4,000l. per annum was to be granted to the London com

mittee, to prepare the buildings and garrison the forts. The forts formerly occupied by the African committee were the following: Appolonia, Succondee, Commerda, Coromantyn, Tantumquarry, Winebah, and Whydah.

The forts that are now kept up are, Cape Coast Castle, James Fort, Accra, Anamaboe, and Dixcove. Cape Coast Castle is the largest of these forts. The anomalous system of government pursued, and the total absence of a judicial establishment at Cape Coast Castle, are much complained of. The government of this settlement is administered by a President of the Council, a military commandant, and a surgeon. The following are their respective salaries :

The troops at Cape Coast Castle are commanded by an European. The native population of Cape Coast Castle is 5,000; European merchants, 12; missionaries, 6; and other white residents, 12 or more. The Europeans occupy about 18 stone houses, valued at 1,000l. to 2,000l. sterling each. The natives live in "swish" houses made of mud, which becomes hard and durable, and they last as long as the roof resists the rain. The authorities of the Castle exercise power over the whole of the country, from Dixcove to Accra, an extent of 120 miles. Civilization is said to be confined within the limits of the Castle. The whole country about Cape Coast Castle is one great wilderness of verdure. It is only about 15 or 20 miles from the sea-side where civilization is carried on to any extent. From this distance the plantains, yams, cassava, and corn are carried on the heads of the women to market, with their infants slung across their backs. The men treat the women in the most revolting manner, making them do all the drudgery of labor. The consequences of this brutal treatment are, the women suffer from premature exhaustion, decrepitude, and decay. The soil is poor on the sea-side, but four miles inland it is fit for any kind of tropical produce. Mr. Swansey made an attempt to introduce the growth of cotton and coffee, and spent much time and money in the experiment. At his death the cultivation of cotton was neglected. The cotton-trees are now growing wild, and the cultivation is entirely given up. The coffee grown on the western coast of Africa is said to be nearly approaching in quality to that of Mocha, but the heavy duty, 1s. 3d. per pound, imposed on its importation into England, amounts to an absolute prohibition of its growth. The trade of Cape Coast has considerably increased of late years.

The following tabular statement of the exports and imports for the year 1839, will give some idea of the relative commercial advantages of the different settlements at Cape Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia:

Anamaboe appears to be better adapted for trade with Ashantee than Cape Coast. It is situated about 11 miles from the former place. It is stated, that in a few years Anamaboe will have the greater part of the trade with Cape Coast. The population of the town is 4,100. The fort is built on land purchased from the Fantee nation. The mortality among the garrison has been for the last five years 1 in 17. In 1840 the imports amounted to 50,0007.; the exports to 60,000l. The trade is principally carried on in London and Bristol ships. The climate is the same as at Cape Coast. The rains set in in the month of May, and continue for four months, which months are the most sickly in the year.

Accra is 75 miles to the eastward of Cape Coast. A considerable trade is carried on in this port. The palm oil trade is considerably on the increase. The commandant of the fort, who administers the government, has 1007. a year. The native population is 4,000. The only place of worship is one connected with the Wesleyan missionaries.

Thirty-four British and forty-one foreign vessels visited British Accra last year. The soil on the coast is light and sandy, but a few miles inland it is excellent, though there is little cultivation, except of vegetables. The Danes have established a coffee plantation, which is said to produce excellent coffee.

The only difficulty in finding laborers or any species of prædial employment is the ordinary rate of wages, which is only 5s. currency month, and which is a very inadequate remuneration for a man's labor. The gold dust which is brought down from the interior is obtained from the alluvial sands and soil, and is washed down from the mountains composed of granite, gneiss, and quartz. At Cape Coast even the sweepings of the streets are impregnated with gold. These are gathered up and subjected to repeated washings, and the average sum that a whole day's labor at this employment will bring a woman will not exceed 2d. or 3d. a day. Accra is divided into British, Dutch, and Danish Accra; the Dutch fort and settlement are of less importance than the Danish; the fort of the latter, called Christiansburg, is on a large scale. It has about 80 or 90 guns mounted.

Dixcove. This district extends for 40 miles along the sea-coast, and about 30 miles into the interior. The imports and exports are said to be about 20,0001. or 30,000l. Last year 40 British vessels anchored in the roadstead.

Elmina is the largest and most important of the Dutch forts and settlements on the Gold Coast, and is situated nine miles to the westward of Cape Coast. The town is considerable, and the trade with Ashantee is of some importance. In this portion of the appendix will be found the various suggestions made by the select committee with the view of altering the present system of government on the Gold Coast.

Slavery on the Gold Coast prevails to a great extent among the natives. Those slaves which are chiefly for domestic service, and not for prædial labor, are treated with mildness, and are consequently comparatively happy. The Fantees make no wars now to obtain their slaves; those which they hold are either born in bondage, or are what are called "slaves of the house," and are more leniently treated than others; or

are purchased in the neighboring countries, where the slave-trade is still carried on; or they are taken in "pawn" either for the debts of others or themselves; and, not being able to pay these debts, they lapse into slavery.

The palm-oil trade is carried on to a considerable extent in the river Bonny. The average import of this oil into the port of Liverpool for some years past has been about 12,000 tuns a year, value about 400,0007. Three-fourths of this oil are exported from the Bonny and the other outlets of the Niger, and it gives employment to 12 or 15,000 tons of shipping per annum. The price of palm oil, duty paid, varies from 331. to

341. per tun.

The people of Bonny, who have managed to get this trade into their hands, are one of the most barbarous, dishonest, and treacherous races in this part of Africa. Our extensive commercial relations with them for nearly 30 years have not produced any change in their savage customs and superstitions. By all accounts, even by the admissions of the masters of the merchant vessels in this trade, they have not undergone the least improvement.

"The following account of one of their horrid practices was given me, (says the Doctor,) by one of those captains who was himself cognizant of the circumstances he described, in a case of human sacrifice, which occurred in the year 1840: My informant and the other masters of English vessels then at anchor in the Bonny, when they went ashore were frequently in the habit of seeing a little negro girl, about 10 years of age, who had been brought down from the upper country, and placed under the charge of one of the natives at Bonny, previously to being sacrificed by the jujumen or priests of that place. The masters of the British vessels frequently saw the child, and were not ignorant of the intended sacrifice of it. This kind of sacrifice, it seems, is made once in each king's reign. The child must be without spot or blemish. If there is the slightest eruption on the skin, or the smallest scratch, the child is held unfit for sacrifice. Consequently, the person placed in charge of the child is extremely careful to preserve it from hurt or injury, and in the present case seemed in the greatest alarm at all times, lest any accident should happen to it. The little girl was suffered to go about, to do whatever she liked, and no one dared to punish or to contradict her. On the appointed day she was placed on a stage of planks placed across a canoe, and taken by some of the Bonny people over the bar of the river. The men in the canoe kept telling her they were going to send her to see her father and mother; and while engaging her attention in this manner, they slipped the stage on which the poor child was sitting into the sea, and, consigning her to the fetish, they left her to go down. The people in the canoe then pulled ashore as fast as possible; and at the very time this atrocity was suffered to be committed, a tremendous tornado set in, and the Dalhousie Castle, a British vessel loading in the river, was totally wrecked on the bar.

"This event, coupled with the murder that preceded it, made a great sensation at the time. The Bonny men could not bear to speak of it or to be spoken to of it; and the only reason given for this sacrifice was,

that it was to do good to Bonny men.' I inquired why those who had seen the child so frequently had not interfered with the King to prevent such an act? If they had been defrauded of a few dollars worth of rum or tobacco, would they not immediately have remonstrated with King Peppel? But this was not a matter of trade, and there was no Englishman there to meddle with it. Surely if there had been any British agent in this place he would not have suffered this act to be committed without remonstrating against its barbarity. But it is not the interests of humanity alone that would seem to require the protection of some consular agent of ours in this place; the interests of our trade demand it likewise. The manner in which the trade is carried on in the Bonny, and in which the natives and the crews of these ships are occasionally treated by the masters, calls for immediate attention.

"The commanding naval officer on this station has been frequently obliged to visit the Bonny, and take cognizance of cases of violence and injustice on the part of these persons, either against the natives or their own people."

Gambia. In 1618 a company was formed in England with the view of establishing a trade on the river Gambia. The countries in Upper Gambia were said to be rich in gold, and even as far back as 1618 Timbuctoo was considered the El Dorado of this part of the world. The government of Gambia is now administered by a Lieut. Governor, appointed by the crown. The colony is a dependency of Sierra Leone, and has no council or legislative body. The total imports of this settlement from 1836 to 1840 amounted to an average of £115,892; and the exports to £140,583.

The expenditure for the government, military protection, and for the maintenance of liberated Africans of the Gambia, in the year 1839, amounted to 18,5887. 12s. 3 1-2d. Of this amount the colony defrayed the sum of 6,0027. 9s. 10 1-2d.

The expenditure of the military establishment included in the first amount was 8,4817. 18s. 5 1-2d.; and the expenditure for the liberated African department, included also in it, amounted to 2,2387. Os. 2 3-4d.

The maintenance of the settlement and its establishments, then, deducting the amount defrayed by the colony, costs Great Britain the sum of 12,5861. 2s. 5d. a year.

The amount of revenue collected in the colony from 1816 to 1826, averaged about 2,0007. It amounted, in 1839, in fixed revenue, to 7,8097. 12s., and incidental revenues to 947. 4s. 1d. Total, 7,9037. 16s. 1d.

Bissaos is the great stronghold of the Portuguese slave-trade. The island of Bulama is situated 30 miles to the southward of Bissaos, at the entrance of the Rio Grande. It is claimed both by the British and Portuguese. The Nunez lies about 300 miles to the southward of the Gambia. A great deal of legal and illegal trade is carried on in this river.

Sierra Leone. The general aspect of the country in the immediate vicinity of this colony, and the external appearance of Freetown, convey to the mind of a stranger an idea of salubrity. The buildings are large,