WESTERN AFRICA. 



847 



only production. The Ivonj Coast has no good harbors, but is visited in boats for its trade in 

 ivory. Upon the Gold Coast are some Dutch settlements, of which El Mina is the capital ; 

 it has a population of 15,000. The chief British settlement in this quarter is Cape Coast 

 Castle, which contains 8,000 inhabitants. The Slave Coast is a beautiful country, covered 

 wilh a luxuriant and perpetual vegetation ; it is governed by a viceroy under the king of Da- 

 homey. Thp slave-trade upon this coast is still actively prosecuted. 



The American colony of Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 

 1821, for the purpose of facilitating the gradual emancipation of slaves in the United States. 

 The spot selected for the first settlement was a little elevated peninsula, lying between the 

 mouth of the river Mesurado or Montserrado and the sea, and terminating in a cape of the 

 same name. After suffering much from the hostility of the natives, with whom it had to sus- 

 tain several severe conflicts, this little colony has at length obtained tranquillity, and is in an 

 exceedingly prosperous condition. The territory over which its jurisdiction now extends, 

 lies between Cape Mount and Cape Palmas, or between 4° and 7' N. latitude ; comprising 

 the tract above mentioned under the name of the Grain Coast ; it occupies about 225 miles 

 of coast, with a breadth of from 20 to 30 miles inland. The climate is found to be healthful, 

 although emigrants are liable to be attacked by the country fever on their first arrival. Its 

 fertile soil yields rice, cotton, coffee, sugar, indigo, banana, cassada, yams, &c. Camwood 

 IS abundant, and the timber is durable and well fitted for building. The natives are the Deys, 

 an indolent and inoffensive people, occupying the coast on both sides of the Mesurado to the 

 number of 1 ,000 or 3,000 ; the Bassas, also a peaceful but more industrious and numerous 

 people further south ; and the Queaks and Condoes in the interior. There are also scattered 

 settlements of Kroomen, whose native country is near Cape Palmas, and who are a laborious 

 and hardy race, acting as pilots, porters, and oarsmen for the trading vessels on the coast ; 

 they commonly speak English. The settlement on Cape Mesurado, which received the name 

 of Monrovia is now a flourishing town, with about 2,000 inhabitants. Caldwell, JVeio Georgia, 

 and Millsburg, higher up the river, also |)resent proofs of the independent and comfortable 

 situation of {he colonists. " From New Georgia to Millsburg," says an eyewitness in 1839, 

 "a distance of 17 miles, the right bank of the river exhibits an almost continuous line of culti- 

 vated farms, many of them of considerable size. Millsburg stands on the St. Paul's, a large 

 tributary of the Mesurado, and consists of a single street, about a mile and a half long, running 

 parallel with the river. The town is pleasantly situated and exhibits a highly picturesque 

 appearance. Edina, about GO miles from Monrovia, on the river St. John's ; Bassa Cove, 

 which, after having been desolated by some hostile natives, has since been reoccupied, and the 

 Maryland colony of Harper, a neat and thriving little village at Cape Palmas, are the other 

 principal settlements. The colonists consist of free blacks, emancipated slaves, and recap- 

 tured Africans, taken from the slavers, to the number of about 4,000, beside whom about 

 1,500 of the natives have put themselves under the protection of the colony. Already neat 

 frame or stone buildings have been erected for houses and warehouses, school houses have 

 been provided and supplied with teachers, churches have been built, and a press set up, from 

 which is issued a respectable newspaper. The native traders from the interior have visited 

 the colony, and an active commerce is carried on partly in colonial shipping, and partly by 

 American and European vessels. Palm oil, ivory, dye-wood, hides, wax, and pepper, are 

 among the articles of export, in addition to the productions before enumerated. 



Benin, or Adou. This State, of which our knowledge is very slight, embraces a great 

 part of the vast delta of the Niger. The capital of the same name is a large, though not 

 populous town, with about 15,000 inhabitants. Bonny, in one of the tributary States, is an 

 important commercial town with 20,000 inhabitants. The manners and customs of the inhab- 

 itants appear to resemble those of the people of Ashantee and Dahomey. 



The most important of the interior districts is the kingdom of Mianlee. It is about 800 

 miles in length, and 350 in breadth. The soil is fertile, and the country completely covered 

 with vegetation. Sugar-cane, rice, the butter tree, pawpaws, ananas, and bananas are culti- 

 vated. The population is above 1,000,000, without reckoning the tiibutary nations, which 

 are 22 in number. The inhabitants weave and dye cotton with considerable dexterity, and 

 hold a trade with the coast in gold dust and vegetable butter. The immense forests of the 

 country afford abundance of palm oil. 



The metropolis, called Coumassi, is large and regularly built ; it is insulated by a marsh, 

 which contains many springs, that supply the town with water ; and it is also encompassed by 



