THE WESTERN COAST. 
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colony was planted in 1792, by an association who 
assumed their name from the island. Bulama is 
about eighteen miles in length, and in some places 
almost as many in breadth. The land rises gradu- 
ally from the shore to the centre of the island, 
which is about one hundred feet above the level of 
the sea, and lies in N. lat. 11° and W. long. 15° 
from the meridian of London. When settled by 
Lieutenant Philip Beaver, who conducted the ex- 
pedition, it had been for a considerable time unin- 
habited ; the Bissagoes having expelled the Biafa- 
ras, the former possessors, and only resorting to it 
themselves to hunt, and plant maize and rice ; it 
had been at three different times proposed to the 
French government for colonization ; in 1700 by 
De la Brue, in I767 by Demanet, and in 1787 by 
Barber, an Englishman residing at Havre de Grace. 
The fertility of the soil, its central situation for the 
coasting trade of Africa, its proximity to the Gam- 
bia, Grande, and Nunez rivers, recommended it 
to the Managers of the Bulama Association as an 
eligible situation for establishing a colony. As soon 
as a subscription sufficient to defray the expences 
of the voyage, and to provide necessaries for the 
colonists, was raised by the Association, three ves- 
sels sailed from Spithead on the 11th of April 
with ^75 persons, conducted by Mr Dalrymple. 
As the subscription had not only been filled with 
extreme precipitancy, but the colonists had been 
