50 , REMARKS ON 



nal trade and our own prospects ; and I shall al- 

 ways entertain a grateful sense of the readiness 

 with which Mr. M'Lean gave me his opinion and 

 his reasons for it, — an opinion which was after- 

 wards confirmed by my own observation and ex- 

 perience. 



The establishment of Cape Coast is managed 

 by a committee of merchants trading to that 

 part of the African coast : they are appointed by 

 government, which has a veto on the appoint- 

 ments. The governor has no jurisdiction beyond 

 the walls of the castle ; but the natives all look to 

 him for protection, and his word is law over the 

 whole Fantee country. It is generally allowed by 

 those who knew the colony while it was directly 

 under the control of our government, that the 

 fort and its dependency Accra are kept in a much 

 more effective state at the present allowance of 

 three thousand five hundred pounds per annum, 

 with a garrison of one hundred black men, than 

 when it cost the nation thirty thousand per an- 

 num, with a garrison of six hundred white men. 

 This is a strong proof of the credit due to the 

 present governor, and the applicability of the 

 plan to other establishments on the coast. 



This colony has a direct trade with Sockatoo, 



