38 SHOALS OF ST. ANN. 



perly educated, might be made exceedingly useful 

 as agents to forward the great design of civilising 

 Africa. 



In the morning of the 13th of September, Cap- 

 tain Harries waited on the governor. Colonel 

 Findlay, who politely ordered that we should be 

 supplied with provisions from the government 

 stores. At three o'clock we left Free Town, ac- 

 companied a short distance by several gentlemen 

 belonging to the colony, and in the evening ar- 

 rived at York. 



On the 15th, having bidden farewell to our 

 kind and hospitable host, Mr. Pratt, we departed 

 from York, taking the Alburkah in tow ; and pass- 

 ing the Banana Islands, steered across the shoals 

 of St. Ann, through a narrow and rather intricate 

 channel, an outline sketch of which had been 

 given to Captain Harries by Mr. M'Cormack of 

 Sierra Leone. These shoals are the only dan- 

 gers of any importance between Sierra Leone 

 and the equator, and from the shifting nature 

 of their sands are always allowed, as seamen ex- 

 press it, " a wide berth." 



After steaming thirty-six hours, we discon- 

 nected the engine and made sail, expecting from 

 the course which the vessel lay to have a quiet 



