68 
VOYAGE TO SENEGAL. 
by worms : specimens of this wood have been sent to Europe 
and America, where it is deemed preferable to those kinds that 
are generally used: it must, however, be admitted, that mast- 
timber is not to be procured; the micheiry is too short, and the 
palm and most of the other trees are too heavy and brittle. 
The Portuguese, however, , are obliged to make their masts of 
palm-trees ; but on account of their weight they form them very 
short, and dispense with top-masts. 
The marshy -spots produce some peculiar trees, the leaves 
of which are large and thin, the wood is spongy, and the 
bark thick and supple, insomuch that it is made into tow. 
To effect this object they peel the inner from the outer rind, and 
the former makes a kind of tow, which never rots. With re- 
spect to cordage, the country furnishes abundance of materials 
for this purpose, as it is made from a species of reed which 
abounds in all the marshy spots. This vegetable is cut and left 
to macerate in water, when, after beating it to deprive it of the 
outer rind, it is spun and made into good ropes. The cocoa- 
trees also afford a supply for this purpose; the fibrous substance 
which covers the shell makes excellent tow; and the ropes 
which are spun from it, are cheaper and more in use there than 
those of hemp. The natives understand this sort of manufacture, 
* and the well-informed Negroes convert it to their own use. 
We continue to send insignificant expeditions to this part of 
the world, and trade in slaves, wax, ivory, hides, cotton, os- 
trich-feathers, and gold; but fortunate will that nation be, which 
shall establish a povv^^erful coloiiy in the isle of Bulam. 
The English, in 1792, were the first who made an at- 
tempt at an establishment of this description: they formed an 
association, and raised by subscription a sum of 9,000l. ster- 
ling; each subscriber giving 50i, for 300 acres of arable land 
in the island. They sent off three ships, which carried nearly 
300 colonists, and a variety of articles necessary for their es- 
tablishment. 
The principal objects to this association was the abolition of 
the slave-trade; the civilization of the Negroes; and the opening 
of a humane and social intercourse between Europe and 
Africa, founded on the exchange of useful goods and on pecu- 
niary speculations. 
The new colonists were well received by the natives, and 
particularly by the naturalized Portuguese on the continent, who 
had long been in the habit of trading for slaves. After their 
arrival they elected a chief; and their choice fell on Lieutenant 
Beaver, who proved himself worthy of their confidence*. He 
* The hpirit and motives of M. Durjind are throughout his work sufï> 
