24 
which are amongft the principal produc= 
tions of the foil, appear to have been raif- 
ed in abundance ; and the produce of the 
colony is generally ftated to be increafing. 
‘© Your Committee have had the moft fa< 
tisfactory proof of the progreflive im prove- 
ment in the internal adininiftration of the 
colony, arifing as well from the additional 
powers conferred on the Company by the - 
Charter of Jufticé, as from the sncreafed - 
vigilance and exertion of the Company’s 
fervanis. The general conduct of the 
colonifts has of late been exemplary ; no 
acts of violence, except in a fingle initance, 
hereafter alluded to, appear for fome time 
to have occurred, and the number of 
thefts and petty offences has been trifling. 
The Maroons, in conieyuence of laws 
paffed for that purpofe, have, in a great 
mealure, abandoned fome pernicious ha- 
bits they bad long indulged, and have, by 
their peaceable demeanour, as well as by 
their fteady attachment to the colony, me- 
rited the approbation of the government : 
their fubm-flion to the Jaws, even when 
enforced to the extent of: capital punifh- 
ment upon two of their.own body, has 
been proved by a remarkable initance, re- 
lated in a letter from the governor and 
council; an extraét of which is inferted 
in the appendix. 
“¢ Some material inconvenience, which 
appears to have arifen from the practice of 
ifluing paper morey, which could only be 
received in payment for goods from the 
Company’s ftores, has been remedied by 
the more judicious made latterly adopted 
by order of the Court cf Direétors, of mak- 
ing the paper exchangeabie for bills upon 
England. Lis ss 
“¢ The progrefs made in the ereétion of 
works (the favourable effét of which 
has been before noticed) has been confi- 
derable ; by means of the wall and other 
fortifications recently conftruéted, the co- 
lony may be confidered in a ftate of fuf- 
ficient fecuriry againft the attack of any 
native power; and additional works have 
been projected, the completion of which, 
in the cpinion cf both the able officers ex- 
amined by your’ committee, would enable 
it to refift that of a confiderable European 
force. A body of volunteers has been 
railed within the celony, the fidelity and 
attachment of which has been tried by ex- 
perience, and with whofe afbitance, a very 
{mall number of European troops (not ex- 
ceeding 20 artiliery men) is fated by the 
governor to be fufficient for the detence » 
of the fettlement. — — eth 
“<The general health of the colonifts 
dces not appear of Jate materially to have® 
4 
. Prefent State of the Colony at Sierra Leone. - (Augatt 1p 
fuffered. The? ficklinefs and mortality 
which for fome- time exifted (principally | 
-among the military) has in a great degree 
-fubfided 5-and there feems reafon to be- ' 
lieve, that it arofe rather from the condi- - 
tion of . the troops when they entered the ° 
‘colony, their habits of intemperance, and’ 
the imperfeét accommodation which could « 
be afforded them, than from any diforder ° 
neceflarily connected with their refidence 
in that ftuation. Although complaints 
have been made of the climate of Sierra 
Leone, and temporary bad effetts have 
occafionally been experienced from it, it - 
does not appear, upon the wholz, to have 
been-found inferior in falubrity to that 
of mof of the Weft India iffands ; and, | 
when compared to that of many other fet- 
tlements‘on the coaft of Africa, feems de- ~ 
cidedly preferable. The number of births, 
which has for fome time exceeded'that of 
the deaths in the colony, affords a fatis- 
factory proof that it is not unfriendly to 
population. ; 
“* The prefent flate of the colony may © 
therefore be confidered as prefenting, in — 
feveral refpetts, a more favourable afpec& © 
than heretofore: It is already rendered 
fecure againft the only enemies whofe hof- | 
tility it has immediately to apprehend ; its 
refources are increafed; its cultivation res ° 
viving ; and it is in the poffeffion of every ‘ 
advantage that can arife from the enjoy- 
ment of internal tranquillity and order. 
Having laid before the houfe the receat 
progrefs of the colony, and its ‘prefent ° 
fituation, it becomes the duty of your ' 
committee to {tate the objections to which, 
under fuch circumftances, a determination * 
to fupport.the colony on the one hand, or © 
to evacuate it on the other, would be lia- 
ble. . 
“© The principal objection which muft at. 
tend the maintenance of the fettlement, 
arifes from the total inadequacy of the » 
Company’s funds to difcharge, or even 
contribute to that expenditure which is 
neceflary for its prefervation. It is fufs 
ficiently manifeft from the incenveniencies 
already experienced in the colony, that 
during its continuance, it will he effen- . 
tially neceffary to fupport a local govern- 
ment capable of maintaining order amongft 
its inhabitants, and affording them pio- 
te€tion. The expences of the civil efta- 
blifhment for fome years to come cannof — 
be eftimated at lefs than 10,0001. per an- 
rium; that of completing the propofed _ 
works has been‘eftimated at 8,oool. It _ 
alfo appears, that the defence of the co. 
jlony will require the prefent volunteer 
force to be permanently kept up, the ex- 
