BULAMA. 



Bulama nings equally agreeable. The rainy season generally 

 begins about the month of June, and continues until 

 the middle of October. During this period, how- 

 ever, there are often considerable intervals of clear 

 weather, particularly in the first and last months ; 

 but towards the middle of the season, the rain falls 

 in perfect torrents. The approach and conclusion 

 of these rains are generally indicated by tornadoes, 

 which arise chiefly in the eastern part of the compass. 

 These, however, are neither so violent nor so destruc- 

 tive, as those terrible hurricanes which are so fre- 

 quently experienced in the West Indies. They al- 

 ways give sufficient warning of their commencement, 

 so that every precaution may be taken against their 

 influence ; and their usual duration is from one to 

 three hours. Their beneficial effects are of the ut- 

 most consequence in these countries. They conduce 

 greatly to the salubrity of the climate, by purifying 

 the air, and by dispelling all those deleterious va- 

 pours with which it would otherwise abound. They 

 begin about the middle of May, and are most fre- 

 quent in the months of September and October, and 

 cease about the beginning of November. The sea- 

 soning fever in Bulama, to which every stranger is 

 subject, is much the same as that of the West Indies, 

 though it has been represented by some as much more 

 dangerous and malignant ; and it has even been main- 

 tained by a respectable physician, * that the yellow 

 fever was originally brought to the West Indies from 

 the island of Bulama. 



The original inhabitants of Bulama were the Bia- 

 faras, (see BIAFARAS), who, after a long and sangui- 

 nary war, were expelled by the Bijugas, a warlike 

 nation, inhabiting the neighbouring islands. The time 

 of the Biafara expulsion is not exactly known, but 

 it must have taken place previous to the end of the 

 17th century; for when the French visited the island 

 in 1699, it was entirely uninhabited. The Bijugas, 

 instead of residing on their new conquest, contented 

 themselves with visiting it every year for the purpose 

 of hunting. They here procured elephants tusks, 

 which they bartered with the Portuguese for tobacco, 

 rice, guns, powder, and shot. With the skin of the 

 buffalo they covered their shields, and that of the 

 deer supplied them with their only clothing. A few 

 fields of rice, millet, and other pulse, were annually 

 cultivated on its western end ; and immediately after 

 harvest, which was always plentiful, they returned 

 to their own country. This island, since its first 

 discovery, has often attracted the attention of Eu- 

 ropeans. It was strongly recommended to the French 

 government by M. de la Brue, director-general of the 

 French Senegal Company, who visited it in 1700, as 

 a most eligible situation for a colony ; and about 60 

 years after, the recommendation was repeated by the 

 Abbe Demance, who Iwed for some time on the 

 adjacent coast ; and also in 1787, by Barber, an Eng- 

 lishman, then residing at Havre de Grace. Their 

 schemes, however, were never put in execution, 

 and the breaking out of the revolution prevented 

 that power from looking beyond its European do- 

 minions. During the agitation of the question re- 

 specting the abolition of the slave trade, the atten- 



tion of the English was often directed to the civili- Bulama. 

 sation of Africa, as the best means of accomplishing v v~- 

 that benevolent object. With this gen. rous intention 

 was formed the Sierra Leone Association j (see 

 SIERRA LEONE) and, with a similar design, a set- 

 tlement was proposed to be established on the island 

 of Bulama, which was carried into execution in 1792. 

 Of the views, progress, and failure of this unfor- 

 tunate expedition, Captain Beaver has furnished us 

 with a very minute account in his African Memo- 

 randa, to which we must refer our readers for the 

 particular details ; and shall confine ourselves, in the 

 remainder of this article, to a succinct sketch of the 

 more prominent circumstances which led to its un- 

 successful issue. The object of those gentlemen who 

 were the original promoters of the scheme, accord- 

 ing to Captain Beaver, was purely the civilization of 

 the Africans ; and the method which was proposed 

 for the attainment of this desirable object, was the 

 cultivation of the country by free natives, hired for the 

 purpose, by which they might be induced to habits 

 of labour and of industry, and by opening a com- 

 mercial intercourse between Europe and the African 

 continent, which might eventually lead to the intro- 

 duction of religion, letters, and civilization, into the 

 very heart of the country, and thereby raise that de- 

 graded people to their proper rank in the society of 

 nations. We cannot enough admire the disinterest- 

 ed spirit which dictated this benevolent design ; and 

 we have to regret, that it was undertaken with so 

 little precaution, and with such inadequate means. 



The expedition, consisting of three vessels, the Ca* 

 lypso, Hankey, and Beggar's Benison, with the colo- 

 nists on board, consisting of above 280 souls, men, wo- 

 men, and children, sailed from the Downs on the 6th of 

 April 1792. This expedition was entrusted to the 

 command of Captain Dalrymple, and a council of 12 

 gentlemen, the greatest number of whom had been of- 

 ficers in the navy or army. On the 25th of May, the 

 Calypso, having parted from her consorts, anchored off 

 the island of Bulama. The colonists, unaccustomed 

 to the confinement and deprivations of a sea-voyage, 

 were eager to get on shore, and to take possession of 

 their new habitation. But instead of endeavouring 

 to secure the friendship of the natives, or to purchase 

 the island, as was their original intention, they land- 

 ed without order or precaution, seemingly regardless 

 of their own safety, or of the authority of their com- 

 manders. Every one did whatever he pleased. Some 

 erected huts and tents ; others wandered through the 

 woods in search of game and fruits, and returned to 

 the ship or not as they thought proper in the even- 

 ing. During the first night, their tents, and whate- 

 ver they had left on shore, were carried off by the 

 natives, which roused them a little to a sense of dan- 

 ger, and induced them to erect a large shed, inclosed 

 with planks, as a place of residence and defence. 

 But the same irregularity prevailed. Captain Dal- 

 rymple had either lost all influence and controul, or- 

 had not firmness to exercise it. The colonists be- 

 came turbulent and unruly, and confusion and anar- 

 chy reigned in every quarter. Instead of being pre- 

 pared against any unforeseen circumstances that might- 



Dr Chisholm, in his " Ettay on the Malignant Pestilential Fever," &c. 8vo. 1705. 



