sr; 



SIEREK. 



SIERRA. LEONE. 



674 



SIEREK. [MOSELLK.] 



SIERRA LEONE is the name of a cape on the west coast of Africa, 

 in 8 30' N. lat, of a river or sretuary which enters the ocean on the 

 north side of the cnpe, and of a British colony established on a penin- 

 sula of which the cape forms the north-western extremity. The 

 name has been extended to a large district, called the coast of Sierra 

 Leone. This region comprehends those parts of Western Africa 

 which are watered by the rivers that fall into the Atlantic between 

 Cape Verga, in 10" 12' N. lat, and Sherboro Island, in 7 30' N. lat 

 It is bounded N. by the part of Senegambia subject to the king of 

 Foot-x Jallon : E. by Sangara, a part of Sudan ; S. by the Grain 

 Coast; and W. by the Atlantic. Its area is estimated at 25,000 

 square mile*. 



Cotut-line. From Cape Verga the coast runs south-east to Alligator 

 Point, and is low and flat, and covered with mangroves. It is divided 

 into numerous islands by the several arms of the river Pongas and by 

 the Dembia River, which reaches the sea a few miles N. from Alligator 

 Point. That headland is the termination of the Soomba range, which 

 rises in the interior to an elevation of 1705 feet Beyond Alligator 

 Point the Sangara River, of which the Dembia is a branch, opens into 

 a deep bay, lined with a succession of shoals and reefs. The south 

 shore of the bay terminates in Tnmbo Point, a long rocky flat Here 

 the land rises gradually into a mountainous tract, of which the highest 

 peak yet measured U Mount Kaknlimab, 2910 feet above the sea-level. 

 Within 6 mile* from the shore at Tumbo Point, and 75 miles from 

 Cape Verga, lie the Isles de Loss, or Ihlas do* Idolos, a group of low 

 j.l.^. nd reefs inclosing a safe and convenient anchorage. These 

 island* have a considerable native population. They possess a valu- 

 able fishery, and abound with the silk-cotton tree, and still more with 

 the palm-tree, from which a huge quantity of oil and wine is pro- 

 duced. The three principal islands are Crawford Island, which 

 contains a British settlement, Factory Island, and Tamara, or 

 Footabar. 



From Tumbo Point the coast continues low and flat, and extends 

 about 70 mile* nearly due south to the peninsula of Sierra Leone. It 

 U broken by the arms of several rivers into many clusters of islands, 

 and the banks of the stream* are clothed with mangrove*. About 

 midway the wooded island of Matacong lie* near a headland, on the 

 oath side of which the river Kouricaria form* an estuary two miles 

 wide, with a sand-bank aero** the channel. The estuary of the Sierra 

 Leone River, from the Isle of Leopard* on the north to Cape Sierra 

 Leone on the south, ha* a width of 10 mile*. The northern or 

 J !ul lorn shore is much depressed and marshy, and runs in a straight 

 line to Tagrim Point, opposite Freetown. The southern shore is 

 rocky, and between Freetown and the Cape is indented by several 

 small bays, of which the most important is the Bay of Fraucia or 

 Si. George, where a number of stream* from the adjacent height* 

 combine to form the finest watering-place for ship* on the coast 

 From Cape Sierra Leone, where a lighthouse has been lately erected, 

 southward by False Cape to Cap* Shilling, the west coast of the 

 peninsula is rocky. The beach is beaten by a heavy surf, which can 

 only be passed by canoes, and sometime* not even by them. Two 

 islands, the Great and Little Bananas, lie near Cape Shilling, and 

 reeembie the adjoining coast in elevation and structure. They are 

 almost continuous, and extend six mile* in length and about a mile in 

 breadth. The Great Banana contain* many wild cattle. On these 

 islands there are two villages, called Dublin and Rickette. 



Surface, Sail, and Product. From Cape Verga inland a tract of 

 high land, much broken by ravine* and narrow valleys, and nowhere 

 more than 1000 feet above the sea-level, extends north by east, and 

 then east, to the table laud of Poota Jallon, near 11* W. long. Imme- 

 diately within thi* northern boundary the country is still very little 

 known. In general it is mountainous. From 9 W. long, a gently 

 undulating tract spreads westward for 80 or 90 miles, with a general 

 elevation of 800 feet above the sea. Extensive vales and fertile 

 meados, belted with strips of wood, and decorated with clumps of 

 tree* of the densest foliage, are occasionally diversified by hills, or 

 broken by deep ravin**, and furrowed by numerous rivulets, sunk far 

 below the surface. The soil of the valleys is a rich vegetable mould 

 mixed with Iron-clay and sand, requiring little labour, and very pro- 

 ductive. Some of the lower depression* become swamps during the 

 rainy season. Rice and ground-nuts are the principal crop* ; maize, 

 yams, and mandioc are extensively grown. Cattle and sheep are 

 numerous. Horse* are imported from Sangara, which lie* farther 

 east. This level country is bounded on the west by a mountain range 

 running 00 miles from north to south between 11 and 12 W. long. 

 The range is broken in several places by riven flowing westward 

 throns-h spacioui valleys. Sa Wolle", near 11 W. long., 9' N. lat, is 

 1900 feet high, and Semba town stands on a mountain 1900 feet above 

 the sea. The hills, in a few places bare from their steepness, are 

 generally belted round the base with camwood-trees, and on the 

 higher part* dotted to the summit* with palm-trees and clothed with 

 grant, which continues green throughout th year. Between the fields 

 are frequent dusters of palm-tree*. The pine-apple is the prevailing 

 fruit. Cattle and goaU and other domestic animals are numerous. 

 Between thi* hilly country snd the sea lies the main part of the coast 

 of Sierra Leon*, forming a plain of about 100 mile* in breadth, varied 

 in some places by rocky tract* traversed by deep ravines, and in others 



by depressions, which are converted by the rains into extensive swamps, 

 and in the dry season are covered with grass nine or ten feet high. The 

 country is fertile, but only partially cultivated. White or Carolina 

 rice grows in great perfection ; re;l rice, which keeps longer, is raised 

 more extensively by the natives for their own consumption. Goats 

 are common, but cattle and sheep are rare, and horses are not reared. 

 Over all the interior, as well as in the colony, poultry is abundant, but 

 of a diminutive kind. Guinea-fowls are plentiful, and much larger 

 than those in England. Wild bees are very numerous. Fish abound 

 on the coast and in all the rivers. The wild animals are the elephant, 

 buffalo, various species of antelopes, monkeys, of which the chimpan- 

 zee is the most remarkable, leopards, and wolves. 



The peninsula of Sierra Leone, which chiefly constitutes the terri- 

 tory of the colony, is 25 miles long from north to south by 12 miles 

 broad. It is bounded N. by the Sierra Leone River ; E. by the Bunce 

 River and the Calmont Creek ; S. by the Calmont Creek and Yawrey 

 Bay; and W. by the Atlantic. Its area is" 220 square miles. The 

 interior of the peninsula is an elevated region of uneven surface, 

 which rises from 400 to 1000 feet above the sea, and is overtopped by 

 conical peaks, among which Sugar-Loaf and Leicester Mountains 

 attain an elevation of between 2000 and 3000 feet The whole region 

 is covered with a good soil, which, on the arrival of the British 

 colony, was entirely, and is still in part, clothed with large forest- 

 tree*, among which is the silk-cotton-tree, the trunks of which are 

 made into canoes often large enough to contain 1 00 men. The indi- 

 genous esculents are yams, plantains, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, 

 okro, pumpkins, and spinach. The fruits of the soil ore the cocoa- 

 nut, the baobab, or monkey-bread, banana, orange, pine-apple, guava, 

 pomegranate, lime, papaw, and African plum. Coffee, sugar, indigo, 

 and cotton have been introduced by the British, and grow well. Some 

 European fruits are cultivated on the higher parts, and the vine 

 flourishes iu the gardens of Freetown. Yams, mandioc, pumpkins, 

 plantains, and Indian corn constitute the principal food of the 

 inhabitants. 



Riveri. Of the rivers of Sierra Leone the most northern is the 

 Pongas, which reaches the sea, on both sides of 10 N. lat, by four 

 arms. Several rivers full into the se.i between Cape Tuinbo and the 

 estuary called the River of Sierra Leone. Some of these rivers, 

 particularly the Mcllikuri and Scarcies, are visited by vessels for cam- 

 wood, teak-timber, and ground nuts. Of the great and little Scarcies, 

 the former, called also Kaba and Munijo, runs more than 300 miles. 

 The most important river is the Rokelle, which is navigable at certain 

 sea* on* for a great part of it* course. It rises in the mountains which 

 separate Sierra Leone from Sudan, at an elevation of 1417 feet above 

 the sea-level, and runs first south, and afterwards either west or south- 

 west, until it approaches within 30 miles of the sea, when it spread* 

 out in a wide [estuary, called the River of Sierra Leone, which is 7 

 mile* wide opposite Freetown, and constitutes the harbour of the 

 colony. At the close of the dry season the Rokelle is navigable for 

 boat* only to Rokon, a distance of 50 miles from its aestuary ; but in 

 all other seasons, to a much greater distance. The course of the 

 Karamanka River, which falls into Yawrey Bay, is generally parallel 

 to that of the Rokelle, and sometimes only 10 miles from it. 



Otology. The geology of this region is little known. The Sierra 

 Loone Mountains, the Banana Islands, ami the Isles de Loss are 

 supposed to be of volcanic origin. The main section of the interior- 

 is a vast alluvial plain, through which basaltic rocks in many places 

 protrude. Iron is worked iu the most hilly parti of the interior. Tho 

 natives have much gold, but it is brought from the countries on the 

 upper part of the Joliba. Salt is made along the low shores. 



Climate. There are two seasons, the wet and the dry. The former 

 lasts from May to November, and U always ushered in and terminated 

 by tornadoes. Nothing can exceed the gloominess of the weather 

 during this period. The hills are wrapped in impenetrable fogs, and 

 the rain falls in such torrents as to prevent any one from leaving hia 

 house. At this period the diseases which prove so fatal to the coast 

 have generally made their appearance, though they can scarcely be said 

 to belong peculiarly to any season. The avenge quantity of rain which 

 falls appears to be about 160 inches, of which one-half fulls in July and 

 August The air is then loaded with vapours, the destructive effects 

 of which are observed in many objects. The putrefaction of animal 

 substances and the fermentation of vegetables take place- with a 

 rapidity that can hardly be conceived. The rains are often inter- 

 rupted by several fine days in succession. 



Being at no great distance from the equator, a high degree of heat 

 is experienced all the year round. It is even probable that the mean 

 heat of this country exceeds that of the equator, being 81 and 82. 

 The greatest heat is experienced in the months preceding the rainy 

 season, in which the mean temperature may be about 83. Sierra 

 Leone doe* not enjoy the advantages arising from the trade-winds, 

 which in the West Indies operate so powerfully in reducing the 

 temperature and rendering the climate more tolerable to Europeans. 

 There is however a pretty regular succession of sea and land breezes. 

 The sea-breeze usually sets in at ten o'clock, but sometimes two or 

 three hours later, and blows from the west-north-west. It is always 

 cool and pleasant, but varies greatly in strength. The land-breezes set 

 in about nine o'clock in the evening, and are in general heated, and 

 loaded with humid exhalations from the low and swampy grounds 



