Observations Upon The Windward Coast Of Africa

erra Leone-Sketches of the Land discovered in the Passage-its Bearings and D

the sketches I have taken of the land we fell in with, its bearings and distance, for the observation of the mariner, which fr

convoy of his Majesty's ship Indostan. We had a favourable run down Channel; but, after making to the westward of Scilly, a heavy gale of wind separated the T

of Sierra Leone appeared in view on the evening of the 5th of April. We came to an anc

phical leagues distant. The river empties itself immediately into the ocean; and its level banks to the north are covered with impervious forests, while those to the south exhibit the romantic scenery of an extended chain of loft

the productions of nature, vegetating in their native purity. This view is animated by the prospect of the colony of Sierra Leone, and the masts of vess

W. distant about 8 leagues from A P

ew, I shall not at present enter into farther details; but only suggest that I consider it as a position from whence a

so, until bearing round a point of that island called Tasso Point; the eye is then attracted by a regular fortification, and even an elegant range of buildings and store-houses, which, with great propriety, may be considered as one of the most desirable positions upon the windward coast of Africa, to command

able of producing any tropical production. Considerable labour and expense have been applied to introduce cultivation into this island, and to exemplify to the African the advantages derivab

pearance were by no means lessened by a view of the interior of the fort, in which were assembled several traders, and chiefs, with their attendants. I was much the object of their curiosity and attention; and in their manner, all came up to me, to give me servi

nopy, which shelters them from the rays of the sun, or the inclemency of the weather, and affords a shade under which they retire in the extreme heat of the day, where they repose in their hammocks, or rest upon their mats. This group of buildings or huts is denominated Adam's Town, from the black chief who presides over these labouring people. Their numbers may b

their respective capacities, would deserve the approbation even of the connoisseur in these arts; while in many other instances they discover a genius of the most intelligent character, and a decency i

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der a singular phenomenon, that the uppe