THE WKSTEHN COAST. 
were absolutely necessary for their proposed ex- 
pedition into the interior of the country. The 
general war, excited by the rapacious and oppres- 
sive monopoly exercised by the Senegal Company, 
whose cupidity even extended to parrots and natu- 
ral curiosities, rendered the interior entirely inac- 
cessible. These unexpected and irresistible events 
obliged Wadstrom and his companions to return to 
Europe, with the observations which they had made 
on the coast, and the oral information which they had 
been able to procure concerningthe interior regions. 
To these travellers, Cape Verd appeared to be the 
most eligible situation for a new colony, but it 
was claimed by the French, who had twice pur- 
chased the whole peninsula. Almost surrounded 
by the sea, abounding in bold elevations, and rich 
valleys watered with springs, it seemed to be as 
healthful, fertile, and defensible, as any part of 
that coast, within a convenient distance from Eu- 
rope. After Cape Verd, the most proper situa- 
tions seemed to be Cape Monte and Cape Mesu- 
rado. These districts have been described by Des 
Marchais, f Villault, Philips, t, Atkins, t Bos- 
* The voyage of the Chevalier des Marchais to Guinea, 
the adjacent islands, and Cayenne, in 1725-6-7, was publish- 
ed by Labat at Amsterdam in 1731, in 4 vols. 8vo, with maps 
by D'Anville. The Chevalier appears to have been a man of 
great ability, and an adept in drawing, geometry, and navi- 
5 
