243 
HISTORY OF THE [book iv. 
plantations with 3000 negroes annually; but in 
1664, the king intending to make war on the 
Dutch, secretly sent Sir Robert Holmes to the 
coast, with orders to seize the Dutch forts near 
Cape Verde; in which service Holmes succeeded, 
and built at the same time a new fort at the mouth 
of the river Gambia, called James Fort, which we 
still hold. Thence sailing southward, he mastered 
all the Dutch factories on the Guinea coast, except 
St. George D’Elmina and Acheen; all of which 
were however retaken in 1665, by De Ruyter, the 
Dutch admiral; together with the fort of Koro- 
mantyn, belonging to the English company, which 
(if I mistake not) the Dutch hold at this day, by 
the name of Fort Amsterdam. 
In 1672, (the third company having in this year 
surrendered their charter to the crown), the fourth 
and last exclusive company was established. It 
was dignified by the title of the Royal African 
Company, and had, among the subscribers, the 
king, the duke of York, and many other persons 
of high rank and quality; and the whole capital of 
.£.111,000 was raised in nine months. Out of 
this subscription, the late company was allowed 
«£.34,000 for their three forts of Cape Coast Cas¬ 
tle, Sierra Leone, and James Fort. The new 
company soon improved their trade, and increased 
the number of their forts; and, as all former com¬ 
panies were obliged to send to Holland to make up 
an assortment for the cargoes of their ships, they 
now introduced into England the making of sun- 
