History of the British Possessions in the Indian & Atlantic Oceans

of Cape Coast Castle, has, I am informed, exerted himself with the most praiseworthy zeal and ability to wean the natives from many of their barbarous customs (that of human sacrifices, on the death of their kings and chiefs in particular, which were formerly sometimes performed within sight of the castle walls), in which he has been eminently successful, and for which he merits the thanks of every friend of humanity.

Mr. Sewell, who resided eighteen years at Cape Coast Castle, and who is now in London, says that he considers the natives on the Gold Coast more remarkable for their humanity than for their ferocity. It is true that under the influence of religious fanaticism they perpetrate (although now but seldom) human sacrifices; but during the eighteen years he resided on the coast he scarcely ever heard of a murder, or any other act of personal violence amongst the natives, and certainly fewer than amongst an equal given number of the inhabitants of any nation in Europe.

James Fort, Accra, belongs to the English;-not quite a cannon shot to leeward lies the dismantled Dutch fortification of Crevecoeur; and about two and a half miles distant from James Fort is situated Christianborg Castle, built on a promontory, and the chief settlement in Western Africa belonging to the Danes.

CHAPTER II.

GEOLOGY AND SOIL-CLIMATE-DISEASE-VEGETABLE AND

ANIMAL KINGDOM, &c.

GEOLOGY AND SOIL.-On this head, of course, nothing more than isolated facts can yet be expected. The soil in the vicinity of Sierra Leone consists chiefly of a slight stratum of brown gravel on a semivitrified rock of the same colour, containing a large portion of the oxide of iron. This is what is called the brown iron stone; the red iron stone is also found in extensive strata, but the brown appears to be the more prevailing one. Both these varieties of hæmatites are cellular throughout their entire substance, strongly indicating volcanic origin; they are intersected with yellow streaks, and kidney-shaped segments. Magnetic iron ore is found in the mountains in small detached masses. Some of the mountains are chiefly composed of granite, large blocks of which are frequently seen studding the surface of the plains. No limestone has hitherto been discovered in the colony, but fortunately there is a large abundance of fossil shells. Gold is abundant, as will be subsequently shewn by the quantities exported to England during the last three years.

There is very little difference in the soil of the coast from Cape Palmas to the River Volta; within five or six miles of the shore it is of a siliceous nature; the clumps of hills which are to be met with in every direction are composed principally of gneis and granite mica slate is found to enter into the

composition of some at no great distance from Cape Coast Castle. These rocks, from containing large proportions of feldspar and mica, are rapidly passing into decomposition, more especially such as are exposed to the influence of air and water; the result of the decomposition is the formation of a clayey or an argillaceous soil.

As the sandy sea-coast is receded from, the soil is siliceous, mixed with decayed vegetable or animal matter, where no granite or micaceous rocks intervene; it is in the valleys where the rich alluvial soil is met with, formed of the disintegrated materials of the surrounding hills (washed down by the heavy torrents of rain) and deposited along with the vegetable decomposition, giving richness to the clayey mould. It is in such valleys, from ten to twelve miles inland, that the natives delight to make extensive plantations.

CLIMATE. According to the distance north or south of the equator, and to the elevation of the country, the temperature and seasons of course vary; on the north of the Equinoctial line May, June, July, August, September, and October, may be considered the wet winter months; and the remainder of the year the dry or summer months; harmattans and tornadoes are peculiar to the latter, and fogs to the former. The rains commence with the end of May or beginning of June, and terminate in August. October, November, and December are cold, with occasional fogs. The winds along the Gold Coast may be divided into the land and sea breezes, the former from the north-north-west generally, and the latter

CLIMATE OF WESTERN AFRICA.

261

from the south-west west-south-west generally ; during the rains the land breezes are irregular. The land breeze generally continues from 9 A.M. to 7 P.M.

The range of the thermometer is not great; during 1819 it did not rise higher than 95°-the minimum being 76o, making a range of only 9°. In 1820 maximum 84°, minimum 74°, range 10°. In 1821 maximum 86°, minimum 66°, range 20°. In 1822 maximum 89°, minimum 74°, range 15°-and so on ever since, with this exception, that there is a visible change in the duration of the respective seasons; thus, as Dr. Tedlie in his valuable Report to the Army Medical Board observes, solar heat alone is not a cause of disease.

The range of the thermometer at Sierra Leone is very slight, and the average heat throughout the year is eighty-two. The rains continue for six months, and the torrents which pour down from the mountains deluge the plains beneath. The mountains in the vicinity of Free Town are now, however, generally cleared and cultivated, and the settlement is as healthy for European residents as any other tropical climate.

Meteorological Table, kept at the Military Hospital, Free Town.