S I E 
S I E 
198 
midst of the habitations; a government-house, a parsonage- 
house, school-houses, store-houses, a bridge of several arches, 
some native dwellings, and other buildings, all of stone, 
are either finished, or on the point of being so. The state 
of cultivation farther manifests the industry of the people: 
all are farmers; gardens fenced in are attached to every 
house; all the land in the immediate neighbourhood is under 
cultivation; and there are fields even to the distance of 
three miles; vegetables and fruits are raised in abundance; 
and there is a good supply of domestic animals. Many of 
them, besides the cultivation of the ground, carry on trades; 
fifty are masons and bricklayers, forty carpenters, thirty 
sawyers, thirty shingle makers, twenty tailors, four black¬ 
smiths and two butchers. In these various ways, upwards 
of 600 of the negroes provide for their own maintenance. 
The appearance and manners of the people have improved 
in an equal degree. They are all now decently clothed : 
almost all the females have learned to make their own 
clothing; about 400 couple are married ; the attendance on 
public worship is regular and large, comprising on an aver¬ 
age not less than 1200 or 1300 negroes, while Mr. Johnson’s 
first congregation amounted only to nine ; and the schools, 
which opened with 140 children, and 60 adults, now con¬ 
tain upwards of 500 scholars. In the more immediate vici¬ 
nity of Freetown, there are also the townships of Charlotte, 
Leopold, Gloucester, and Wilberforce. These, with Free¬ 
town, contain upwards of 2000 scholars, adults and child¬ 
ren, in a course of regular instruction. Within the last two 
years, in consequence of the accessions to the population, 
four new and more distant stations have been formed; Wa¬ 
terloo, bordering on the Timmanees, and containing already 
700 inhabitants; Wellington, near to Kissey; and Hastings, 
not yet risen to any importance. These are on the eastern 
side of the colony, while on the south-western is York, 
bordering on the Sherbros, where a settlement called Kent, 
had already been formed. Connected also with the colony, 
a settlement has been formed called Bathurst, at St. Mary’s, 
on the Gambia. The population is increasing. The climate 
is said to be healthy, and provisions much cheaper than at 
Sierra Leone; and the opportunity afforded of communicat¬ 
ing with the populous countries on that river, renders it ex¬ 
tremely valuable. 
The following is the distribution and amount of the popu¬ 
lation of Sierra Leone, according to a census taken on the 
8th July, 1820:— 
Freetown and suburbs, . 4785 
Leopold,. 469 
Charlotte, . 268 
Bathurst,.. 469 
Gloucester. 563 
Regent and vicinity, . 1218 
Kissey and neighbourhood, . 1033 
Wilberforce, . 409 
Kent and vicinity. 296 
W aterloo, . 353 
Hastings,. 195 
Wellington,. 456 
York. 297 
Leicester hamlet,. 78 
Vdlages in Peninsula,. 1468 
Peninsula and isles in river,. 115 
Gambia island, . 37 
12,509 
Of these, there are 
Men, . 5796 
Women, .. 3020 
Boys, .2015 
Girls, . 1678 
12,509 
According to nations, the above population is classed as 
follows 
Europeans,. 120 
Nova Scotians,. 730 
Maroons,. 594 
Natives, . 2989 
Liberated negroes, . 8076 
These statements are exclusive of the military (European 
and native) and their families. The increase since the 
census of 31st December, 1818, is 2944, chiefly arising from 
the liberated negroes and discharged soldiers. 
The following are the number of scholars educating 
according to the national system, in the different establish¬ 
ments:—• 
Freetown and suburbs, . 575 
Leopold,. 144 
Charlotte,. 106 
Bathurst, . 113 
Gloucester, . 258 
Regent town, . 432 
Kissey. 158 
Wdberforce,. 75 
Kent, . 77 
Waterloo, . 86 
Hastings,. 57 
Wellington, . 16 
2097 
SIERRA MADRE, a great ridge of mountains in North 
America, forming part of that vast chain which, under the 
different appellations of the Andes and Rocky Mountains, 
runs through the whole extent of the American continent, 
beginning at Terra del Fuego, and ending at the Icy Ocean 
in the north. The term of Sierra Madre, or Topia, is how¬ 
ever, more strictly applied to that elevated part of this im¬ 
mense ridge which commences near Guadalaxara, and extends 
450 miles in a northerly direction into New Mexico. The 
breadth of all its ridges or parallel crests, at this part, is some¬ 
times 120 miles, where the chain is called more distinctively 
by the appellation of Sierra Madre, or Mother Ridge, on 
account of its great altitude above the other parts. It has 
by some writers been compared with the Cordillera of Peru; 
and the chasms and precipitous tenninations of its sides are 
said to present the most sublime specimens of mountain 
scenery that can anywhere be found. This part of the 
chain, and indeed nearly the whole of it, is in general 
densely covered with forests of the most gloomy appearance, 
composed principally of pines and oaks. In these imprac¬ 
ticable wilds, birds of every description, peculiar to the 
country, inhabit; and their variegated and beautiful plumage 
throws a ray of lustre on the sombre scene. On the sum¬ 
mits of some of these mountains snow eternally lodges, and 
the cold in consequence is intense. Many rivers take their 
rise in the sides and near the tops of this Cordillera, and rush 
with impetuous force into the valleys below, whence, they 
take their courses to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
During the rainy season (from June to September), and 
when the upper snows lose their solidity and become fluid, 
these rivers, and the smaller streams, are turned into tor¬ 
rents, inundating the low lands; and their devastations, to 
the distance of 10 or 12 miles, are inconceivable. During 
this period, when the natives are forced to much manual 
labour and bodily exertion in the open air, to repress the 
ravages of the waters, these pests of warm climates, the mos¬ 
quitoes become intolerable. The Sierra Madre sends off a 
branch in the west part of the province of New Mexico. 
This ramification, the summits of which are very lofty, is 
called Gemes, and bears a south-easterly direction; whilst 
on the eastern side it throws off another ann, called the 
ridge of Nahmi, which is, however, of inferior height, and 
of shorter duration, than that of Gemes. From the shore of 
the Pacific to the great Topian ridge, the general distance 
may be computed at 140 miles; in many places, however, 
it is greater, and in some, where the continent begins to 
straighten its bounds, not one half that distance, The 
Topian 
