^80 
THE WESTERN COAST* 
other vessels. From Bissao he despatched a 
sloop, to explain his intentions to the Canabacs, 
and bring back the women and children who had 
been taken at Bulama. The embassy was suc- 
cessful, and on the 29th of June 179^2, the so- 
vereignty of the island of Bulama was ceded to 
the king of Great Britain for ever, by the kings 
of Canabac. The cession of the island of Areas, 
and of the adjacent land on the continent, was 
likewise obtained from the kings of Ghinala, on 
the 3d of August. Though the success of the 
expedition had, as yet, exceeded probability, the 
greater number of the colonists were miserably 
disappointed. Instead of finding mines of gold 
ready wrought, or sugar, coffee, cotton, and in- 
digo, fit for manufacture, they had found a soil 
of surprising fertility indeed, but which it was 
necessary to clear and cultivate before they could 
derive any profit from its productions. They 
found that it was necessary to build houses for 
their shelter, to plant rice and maize for their 
subsistence ; and, therefore, dreading the rainy 
season, and chagrined at the Canabacs, both on 
account of the courage they had displayed, and 
of their indolence in leaving the island in so bad 
a state of cultivation, they all returned in the 
same ships to England, except a few who sailed 
to America and the West Indies j and Mr Beaver 
remained as chief of the colony, with twenty men, 
