R E p o R T 
FROM THE 
SELECT COMMITTEE 
ON THE 
WE,ST COAST OF AFRICA; 
TogETHlSll WITH THE 
MIN UTE S 0 F E V IDE N C E, 
APPENDIX, AND INDEX. 
PART Il.-ApPENDIX AND INDEX. 
Orckred, by The House of Commons, to be Printeri, 
S August 1842• 
55 1.-II. 
\ 
APPENDIX p. iii 
MAP OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRlCA - at the end of Appendix. 
INDEX - - p. 521 
I 
[ iii 
A P PEN D I X. 
No. I.-Copy of the I NSTRUCTI ONS addressed by Lord John Russell to Dr. Madden, Commis-
.' . ' sioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast of AJrica, dated Downing-street, 26 Novem ber 
_ 1840 - - p. 1 
1"0. z.- Copy of a LeIter from Mr. Under Secretary Hope to Dr. Madden, dated Downing-
street,9 Apl'il 184Z - p. 7 
GO LD COAST. 
No. 3.-REPORT of Commissioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast if Aftica- (the 'Gold Coasb 
and its Dependencies) :-3' July 1841 - - - - - - - - p. 8 
NO. 4 .- PAPERs PRESENTED BY THE COLONIAL D EPARTMEN T :- (Gold Coast and its Depen-
dencies.)-No.s. 1 to 27, with- Enclosures . See Schedule. - - - - p. 118 
NO.5.- CoPY of a Letter from the Committee of l\1erchants for superintending the Affairs of 
the Gold Coast, to]VIr. Under Secretary Stephen, dated Watling-street, , 6 April 1842; 
(with 27 Enclosures) - - - - - - - - - - p. 153, 
No. 6.- Act to enforce certain Regulations to be observed on importing and' exporting Commo .. 
dities into and out of Bl'itish Possessions and Settlements on the Gold Coast - p. 174 
No. 7.- Paper delivered in by J. G. Nicholls, Esq. on the subject of Emigration by the Gold 
Coast Natives, &c. - - - - - - _ - - - - - P.176 
GAMBIA. . 
No. a.-Report of Commissioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast '!.fAfrica., Gambia w p. 177 
No. g. -Captain Huntley's Letter and Observations upon the Report of the Oommissioner of 
lnquiry on the Western Coast of Africa, Gambia - - - - - - p. "4 
No. l o.-Letter from Mr. Under Secretary Hope to Captain Craigie, R.N.; dated 16 April1S4. > 
and Reply, dated 18 April 184Z - p. • 30 
No. ll.-Copy of a Despatch from T. 1. Ingram, Esq . administering the Government of Gambia, 
to Lord Stanley; dated 27 November , 841 - - - - - - p. 23" 
No. 12.- COpy of a Despatch from T. L. Ingram, Esq. administering-the Government of Gambia~ 
to Lord Stanley; dated 10 February 1842 - - . - - - - p. 23' 
No. 13.-CoPY of a Despatch from T. L. Ingram, Esq. administering the Government of Her 
Majesty's Settlements in the Gambia, tn Lord Stanley; dated 2 April 1842 - p. 234 
No. 14_- CoPY of a Despatch from Lord Stanley to T. L. Ingram, Esq. administedng the Govern-
ment of Her Maiesty's Settlements in the Gambia j dated 25 Ju:ae 1842 - p. 241 
SIERRA LE ONE. 
No. 15.-Report nf Commissioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast if Africa; Sierra Leone; p. 243 
No. , 6.- Copy of a Letter from Mr. Under' Secretary Hope to Colonel Doherty; dated 29 Sep-
tember 184 ' - - p. 359 
No. 17.-Colonel Doherly's Obser-vations upon the R eportl" of the Commissioner of Inquiry on the 
Western Coast of Africa, Sierra Leone ' - ~ - - - - - p. 359 
No. ] S.- Copy of a Despatch from Mr. Secretary Stanley to the Officer administedng the 
Government of Siena Leone, in reply to Colonel Findlay's Complaint relative to the 
Rev.  .Mr. Morgan's Neglect of Duty, in not visiting the Pdsoners connned in the 
Gaol of freetown - - p. 392 
No. Ig.- Circumstantial Report of Capt. C. G. A. Sdhst~ of the Hambro' Barque "The Echo," , 
, lVlr. T. F. Ballauf, of Hamburgh~ owner ; seized at Sierra Leone, by the Vice-Admiralty 
Court - - - - - - - - - - - - - p. 394 
No. zo. - Copy of a Lette~ from Viscount Canning to Lord Sandon , transmitting copies and dupli-
cates of Despatches from H er Majesty's Commissioners at SierFa Leone, respecting the 
Trial, Convjction, and Sentence of a Man for putting Slave Irons on board a Foreign 
Vessel, with a view to obtain a Conviction fol' Slavt?dealing at Sierra Eeone; p. 401 
No.2 1. - Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast <!T Africa :- (Climate, 
and its influence on Health) - - - - - - - - - p. 411. 
No. 22.- Correspondence relative to the Slave Trade at the Gallinas:-
(l.)-Copy of a Despatch from Governor Dohertv to Lord' J'ohn Russell ; dated 
Government H ouse, Sierra Leone, 7 Decem'ber 1840 - - - p. 449> 
(2.}-Extract of a Despatch from Governor Sir John Jeremie to Lord John Rus-
sell j dated Government I-louse, freetown, Sierra Leone, 4 Jan.1841, p. 46Q.. 
551. 
iv ] 
No. 'l3.- P0l'crs delitv1red in b!J TViUiam IIolmes, Esq. fli. P. Agent for Brit~h Guiana :-~z. b' (1.)- Copy of a ~Iinute addressed to the Members of the Court of Pohcy by IS 
Excellency the .Ljeutenant~l?overnor, on the 26t1~ February 1836 - p. 4G~ 
(• .) _ Stipendiary Maglstrnte's Half-yearlyReport, ending 30th June 18.p, tak3. 
from Dlue Book published by Parhament, 1842, p. 64 - - p. 4 J 
{3.)-Extract from Governor Light's Despatch, dated 21st September 18,p, ta~~n 
fTom Parliamentary l3lue Book, 1842, p. 85 -.. • - p. ",,3 
(4.)-Immigrauon Committee's Report, taken from Parliamentary Blue DOO~, 
184' P 1'0 _ _ _ - - - - - - p. 4 4 
(5.r-E." tra~ from a L etter of Messrs. George Anderson & Co. dated Demerara, 
30th April 184' . _ • - • . • - - - p. 4
6
65 
No. '4.-Statement delivered in by W. Burge, Esq. Agent for. J amalCll - - • 6' 4 5 
No. 25.- :Mntters to be considered in amending the Consohdated Slave Trade Act, 5 eo. 4 , 
811d the 6 W'ill. 4. with :espect to .~id jug and abetting the ~I ave Trade, and the. hO,ld-
ing of Slaves or Pawns m the British Settlements on the TVestcrn Coast qf Afr,~a.­
( Delivered in by Dr. Madden, and rl!ftrrcd to in Answer to Question 9652 ) - p. 47' 
No. 26.- Papers delivered in by C. M01'r!Jat, Esq. :- viz. . 
(I.)- Extract from Parliamentary Papers relatrng to the Slave Trade, 7 July 1817, 
fo l. '1; being an Extract from a Letter from Sir J ames Yeo - p ..4 73 
(2.)- Extract from Hesolutions contained in the Report from a Select Commlltce 
on Sier ra l eone in 1830 - - .. - - - - - p. 473 
(3.)-Extract ofa Letter from J. Jeremie, E'q. to T. F. Buxton, Esq. - . .p, 474 
(4-}-Memoranda respecting the. ~Icasures adopted by the Colony of Tr:",,,lad f~r 
pro~oting and encouragmg Immigration; the A~vauta~es wl'llch immi-
grants would enjoy in that Colony, and Suggestions With regard to the 
Mode of conducting Emigration from Africa to our West India Colonies; 
p.4i4 
No. 27.- Emjgration from 4frica to the TVesl Indies, supposing it carried on by Her hlajebty's 
Government :- (Deli_eel in b!J MaciJ"egor Laird, EI~.) - - - . • p .. 483 
No. 28._ Emigration froro Africa, supposing it is car~ed on by Private Vessels :- (D ell.vered In by 
Mac!'7egor Lai"d, Esq .)· - • • - - • • - • p. ¥ls 
No. 2g.- Queri:'s submitted to 1Ur . Hartung, an African Trader at Hamburgh, 00 the subject of 
~Vestern Africa, by the Chairman of the Select Committee on the 'Vest Coast of 
Africa; wi th his Answers p. 48G 
No. 30.- Extracts from the Hev. T. B. Freeman's Journal :- ( Dclit'eTed iu by the lUTJ. John. 
Beecham) . - - • - - - - • • • - P 4BO 
No. 31.-Extract of a Letler from the Rev. T. B. freeman, dated Kumasi, Ash6nti, 1 January 184'2. 
on the commencement of a ~1ission in Kumasi ;-(Deliucred in by tile Rev. Johu 
Becclwm) - p. 49 1 
No. 32.- Extrnct of a Letter from the Rev. T. B. Freeman, dated Cape CODSt Mission House, 
30 March 184'.2, stc1ting the E::.lnblishment of a School at Kumasi :-(Dcliter"d i. by 
fhe Rev. 101m Bl,;ec!tam) - - • - - - - • - - p. 4U:L 
No. 33.-Heturn of the Uates of the J udidal and other Civil Offices falling vacant at Sierra.Leom 
and the Gambill, from the Year 1830 to the present Time, distinguishing lhe Yacanciez 
by Dealll; also, the Dates when they were filled up, and the Amouut (If SIlJory 
attathed to C;'l\ch Office; also, the 1\ ames of the Persons acting wbHe the several 
O~ces continued vaca.l1t, and lhe Amount of Salary such Persons received while ~o 
aClmg - - - - - - - - - - - - - p ..... 93 
No. 34.-Stntemel1t showing the Number ofVesseis brought into Sierra Leone with Slaves, be(n u;n 
1St Jan. anu 31st Dec. 1835; also, showing the Number which Died prior to thdr dis-
posal from the Af ricnn Yard ill Freetown. or within the first Three Months aftcr their 
Eman~ipation :-(Deli'Ccred ill hy TV. IfamiiJ.oll, E89' and riferrcd to in An.Slocr to 
Qucst,o" 4576) ~ - - - - - - - - - - p. +95 
No. 35.- Statement of Vessels fitted out for the Co::u;,t of Africa by \V. B. Hutton &. SOD .• 
between t1~c Years 1ts3? ?ud ]84-2; stating the Time of the Ships' Return Home,.. 
Length of Absence, Slups Names, Number of the Crew. Dentru through Accid,.'Dt,,!), 
an~ O~aths through other Causes :- (Delivered ill t,y lf~. B. Hulton, '&9' and rrff'TN.d 
1 to Ill/US EvicU!'ce, ~ Jrmc \84-2, Qllcstion 396!!) -.. - - - - - jl. 4-95 
No. 3G.-Return ~f the Exports and Imports for t;l~ last Fifteen '·ears, between the U~E"t Coad: 
of Ajnca and England, distingwsbiug from wbat Place iu .Africa the Exports \vcr\! 
.. s(>nt ~ - • - - • - - -. - ~ • - p. 49U 
1\0. 37.- CoPY of .n Letter from l\:lessrs. Zulueta & Co. to Lord' iscount Sandall dated London 
'25 Apnl 18+2 - - - - - - ' - 51~ 
No. 38.-CoPY or a Letter fl:om Colonol lo'indJay to 1\1. ForSler, Esq. daled 'airo t No.th B~itain, 
, 4 July 1842 j (WIth Enclosures) - - - - - - • • p. 5 11 
No. 39·-Lett.cr from the lIon . Copt. Denman, R. N. to the Right han. the Ch.'lirmM of the om. 
mlttte; doted P~rtland~plncc, J 9 July 1842 - • - - - - l. 51 oJ 
No. 40.-CoPy of a Letter irom W. M. HuLton, Esq. to Lord Vi,count Sandon· dated W~lling. 
streer,27 Ju1Y18+2 - _____ _ _ I. _ 
~o. 41.-Lcltcr f!om f. SwaDzy, Esq. to Lord Yiscoullt 111gCStI C, M.I'. _ _ _ \~ ~~4 
No. 4'2. - Letter from Lord Aberdeen to the Lord, Cm\lIni~sionert~ of lhe Admiralty dal ~ I'! 7· + 
Office, 10 May 184'2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ . ~ I,; orc.:.gl~ 
No. 43·-Exlracl. of u Despotch from Earl Bathurst to Governor Sir (,hurlu~ !\l'Cartil)' Pd1t~~ 
DowDmg-slrc.:ct, 19 Sept~Dlbcr .18:21 _ w ' 
No. 44.-Extrn.CI of a Heport from Governor Sir Charles M'Carthy to Earl U b -. I~;.:i IJ 
Cape ('oust Ca~tlc! 10 ~Ja)' 18.l~ _ at UTtit. Wlh.~ 
- p.  .}1 i 
A p p E N D I x. 
- Appendix, No. 1.-
COpy of the INSTRUCTIOl<S addressed by Lord John Russell to Dr. 11!fadden, Commissioner Appendix, NO.1. 
ofInquiry on the "'estern Coaot of Africa. 
1n structions to 
Sir, Downing-street, 26 November 1840. Comm issioner of 
Inquiry. 
HER Majesty's Government haying selected you for the purpose of instituting inquiries 
into various matters relating to the establishments of this Country on the Western Coast 
of Africa, I proceed to explain to you the special objects to which your attention is to be 
more immediately directed. 
I am desirous that your inquiries should be opened on the Gold Coast. 
The several forts in that quarter, of which I enclose a return, were formerly vested in the 
late African Company, until, in the year 1821, the Legislature, hy the Act of the 1st & 
2d Geo .. 4, c. 28, thought proper to vest them in the Crown. 
The Government at that period did not appear to recognize it as expedient or necessat·y 
to maintain or keep possession of all those estahlishments. On the one hand, the dila-
pidated and defenceless state of most of the forts would have required a large outlay for 
their repair, independently of the continued expense of maintaining them in an efficient 
condition; and on the other hand, it was supposed that every commercial advantage which 
settlements in that quarter were capable of affording could be s!lcured by retaining the 
most respectable of the forts only. 
The Governor of Sierra Leone, the late Sir Charles M'Carthy, to whom the duty was 
intrusted of effecting the transfer of those establishments to the Crown, recommended that 
four should be retained; viz., Cape Coast Castle, Accra, Annamaboe, and Dixcove; and ill 
the year 1823 the Legislature granted a sum of 17,8001. for the support of the Civil 
Establishments of Government which it was deemed expedient to institute there, inde-
pendently of a separate provision for the Military Estahlishment. 
The disastrous war irr which Sir Charles M'Carthy unadvisedly engaged with the Ashan-
tees was followed by a long series of hostilities, in which several of the native tribes sided 
with, and others against, the Briti sh authorities, until, in the year 1827, the Government 
resolved on withdrawing all the public establishments from the coast, and of giving up the 
forts to the merchants, to be held by theltl as factori es. This determination appears to 
have been chiefly grounded on the consideration that the amount of trade carried 011 
through the medium of those stations was not of sufficient importance, in a national point 
.of view, to justify the maintenance of the forts as colonial settlements endowed with 
institutions of Government, and protected by a regular military force. 
It was finally arranged that the forts should be delivered over to the merchants, on the 
conditions of which I subjoin an outline:-
J. That the two principal forts of Cape Coast Castle and Accra should remain 
dependencies of Sierra Leone. 
2. That British law should continue in force there. 
3. That the affairs of the forts should be chiefly managed by a Committee of Mer-
chants of London, to be appointed by the Government. 
4. That five of the merchants residing in the forts should form themselves into a 
CI)Uncil of Magistrates, for the purpose of regulating the internal affairs of the forts, 
and of exercising all such powers as might legally be conferred upon them, '"'lith a view 
to the preservation of the peace, the protection of the fort s against as ::.ault or rebell ion, 
anc the repression of the slave trade within their limits and influence ; provided, 
551. B however, 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
however, that tile magistrates should not exercise authority or jurisdiction over the 
Appendix, No. 1. 
districts and natives nnder the immediate influence or protectIOn of the fOlts, bnt solely 
Instructions to in the forts, roadsteads or harbours thereunto adjoining, as well ak over the persons 
Commissioner of 
Inquiry. residing therein. 
s. That from the 1st of July 1828, a sum of 4,0001. per annum should be placed at 
the disposal of the London Committee, for maintaining the bUlldmgs III repau·, and pro-
viding a sufficient garrison. 
6. That the harbours of the Cape Coast Castle aDd Accra should be open to all 
vessels without payment of any duty whatever. 
7. That the grant to be made for the purposes before-mentioned should be duly 
accounted for, and that retums of tl,e trade should be delivered annnally to the 
Government. 
s. That the grant shoule! be fixed annually, after examination of the reports from the 
Coast relating to the state and value of the trade. 
9. That no rules, regulations 01· appointments made hy the London Committee should 
be valid, until appro,'ed by the Government. 
As a further measure of precaution, it was prescribed as a standing order to the Senior 
Naval Officer on tl,e Western Coast of Mrica, to inspect the forts annually, and report their 
condition to the Government. 
Under the system of management which has thus prevailed since the year 182", and in 
which no material alteration has taken place beyond a reduction of the Parliamentary Grnnt 
for the maintenance of the forts,-from 4,000/. to 3,500 I. during the years 1831, S, 6, 7, 8, 
and 9, hut increased for the present year to its former amount,- the trade is nnderstood 
to have increased, and peace has prevailed with tbe A.shantees, and with the intermediate 
native tribes. 
I enclose a copy of the present establishments of the forts, and 0. copy of the report of 
~o~ the naval officer's last inspection. 
~?"d',,,i,,·,'lhtl1.'  But you will perceive by the accompanying report from MI'. l\laclean, the president of the 
,~~ ~\'ti~ Council of Magistrates at Cape Coast Castle, that facilities are admitted to ha"!'e been 
~ 4. afforded to slave traders resortinO" to these factories, by magistrates and membe" of tbe 
~CounCil. 0 
To that subject you will direct your parl.icular attention. You will ascertain \ hether 
there are any means of procuring eyidence to convict the parties who may ha,~e been 
engaged in such illegal proceedings, aud whether there is, in point of fact, any difficult y in 
di:::tinguish.i.ng the slaye traders who ask for supplies of goods and provisioUB, from traders 
employed in lawful commerce. 
You will not, however} confine your inquiries to those points; you will have to consider 
whether the present constitution of government in those establishme-nts is one which hn~ a 
tenden.cy to favour connivance. with the Rlave trade, and to withdraw the persoll~ exen~il'-iog 
authonty there from the supenntendeoce and control of Her M'\iesty's Government. 
Having terminated your inquiries at the Gold Coast, you will thell proceed to ,iNra 
Leone and the ~ttleme~ts in. the river Gamba, with a view to ascertain by rour OWll 
personal observation thl!.lT varlOU advantages and disadvantages; you will cOll!;id~r the 
retums of mortality of these several places, and endea\'our to determine whether it " to he 
attributed to the geneml nature of the coast, tl,e peculiar situation of the <eltlement" \)1" the 
want of care in respect to se\~erage, v~ntila~ion, or medical precaution. It will be d "ira hIt', 
also, that you should collect mformabon With respect to othet· positions where hmd mi 'ht 
be acquired from lhe natives, and their relative advalltaO"es in re21lrd to trade <ccnrih ~l<1 
health. 0 I::) , " .. ' 
. Besides these .questi?~SI you will ~lake inquiry ns to the prospects of emi!;191.tl{lO from 
Sierr.a  Leoue to the 13ntlsh \Vest Ind ian Colonies ,·  you \\1·11 aseel· '..·.·...·.. u WI l Ct l let' II l c?Te- N.  auy 
cbo ns1id erable .cla,ss 'of. p ersons disposed to emi,n0- rate.  to th.o.s e ColoIe.n, ·',' I UppO~l.I l~ t Il at to 
e tle case, lOU Will ICpOl"t asto the generallOl.elligence of tho.e persons, lind [h"ir com-
prehenslOu of the undertaklllg tn which they aI's about (0 cng-nge j you wm a~certain wht.thrr 
they ~re persons able to conl11tct for themseh-cl'iJ or whether t.h l'Y are in the hltl\dl'\ of other"'J 
~"ho .e~ther by f~rce or fraud codt"a,'our to make a trnffic of their pcr:-;.on~. 1n mukin" these 
mqulr1 eA, you wlil uu~erstand ~hat tIer l\lnjesty's Government, t~tr from di 't'ul1rtlgiug~\\('1\11d 
sec great ad,'antllges tn n fn'c lI'l.lercourse with one of our "'")ltl· t - II f\C· 
'Ill<i the W st Ind ian Colonies. ." cmen, 0n Ie cun-t ,I • ne'l 
It 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 3 
It appears to Her Majesty's Government that, on the one hand, men of African birth Appendix, No. 1. 
who have been trained in civilization a.nd instructed in Christianity, in J amaica or Barb,does, 
would be the best teachers of the Negro race in Africa itself; and that, on the other hand, Instructions to Commissioner of 
the miserable subjects of an African chief might acquire in Jamaica, Trinidad, or Guiana, Inquiry. 
competent means, the knowledge of true religion, and the arts of social life. But such 
intercourse would be altogether fallacious if the natives of Africa were induced by indirect 
compulsion or false representations to cross the sea as labourers in our Colonies. It is 
obvious that such an emigration, wearing many of tbe features of the slavo!' trade, would 
be unjust to the people thus removed, and would a/ford but too plausible a pretext to 
foreign powers, who would endeavour to confound em igration thus canied on with real 
slave trade. 
I consider that these inquiries will occupy your time and attention for nearly a year. 
I am, &c. 
Dr. Madden. J. Russell. 
Enclosure, No.1, in Dr. Maddell 's Instructions. 
LIST of the FORTS f6!:merly occllpied by tbe AFRICAN COMMITTEE. 
Appolonia Fort nearly dismantled; trade in gold considerable; the landing 
dangerous. 
Dixcove - In tolerable condition; trade very good ill gold, ivory and palm oil ; 
occupied by a resident merchant; a cove or bay, capable of 
adm itting vessels of 40 tons to be hove down; timber abundant. 
Succondee Of importance as a trading place in gold, &c. ; the hlockhouse was 
destroyed by the French. 
Commendah - - - A place of trade, being in the Warsaw gold- district; large canoes were 
formerly suppl ied to vessels engaged in the slave trade. 
Cape Coast Castle - Head-quarters; has a considerable trade iu gold, palm oil, &c. 
Annamaboe - A regul,,:r fortificMion; considerable trade in gold, palm oil and com ; 
occupied by a reSident merchant. . 
Cormantyne - - - At this place the English built their first fort; now in mins. 
Tantumquerry - A large town, with great capabilities for trade in gold, &c. ; the fort 
III rums. 
Winnebah - This fort was destroyed by directions of his Majesty's Government, 
the natives having murdered the governor; corn abundant, and 
canoes brought down from the intenor. 
James Fort, Accra - In charge of a commandant; trade considerable; the interior open 
and fertile; Her Majesty's ships are here supplied with fresh pro-
visions, &c. &c. 
Pram Pram - - - A place of trade in pal~ oil and corn; no fort. 
Whydah - - - - Abandoned some years ago by the late African Company. 
Enclosure, No.2, in Dr. Madden's Instructions. 
ESTABLISHMENT at Cape Coast Cast/e, on the 31st March 1840. 
President of the Council. 
Captain of the Guard. 
Surgeon . 
Secretary. 
Consul at Coomassie. 
Troops. 
One selj eant-major; one colour-setjeant; SL",{ selj eants; drum-major , fife-maJor; four 
corporals; two drummers; two fifers; bugler; serjeant-gunner, and 100 pnvates; 50 mIlItIa 
and nOfl-tommissioned officers. 
5.51. B 2 Cabboceers, 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
4 
Cabboceen, &,c. 
Appendb. , No.1. 
Five cabboceers for the five divisions of the town at Qape Coast; six pynims or elders of 
I n~tructions to the town; five police divisions; two. linguists ; two native doctors, and one prlOter. 
Commi~ioner of 
Inquiry. 
Artificers, Labourers, 8ic. 
One overseer' one armourer' one cooper' one turner; two blacksmiths; eight car-
penters; one "itto apprentice; ei~ht masons ; IS labourers, and prison labourers occasionally; 
one hospital boy; one secretary s office boy; one surgery boy; one bam boy; five bell 
boys; two constables and one gaoler. 
Sclwols. 
One schoolmaster and five teachers employed in instructing 165 boys. 
Canoes, Canoemelt, Messengers, Hammockmen, 
Constantly employed on the co.st and in the interior ; no specific numher can be 
ascertained; the canoemen are always employed in watering Her Maj esty's ships. 
James Fort, Accra. 
One commandant ; one serjeant; one corporal; one bugler ; 1 7 privates and 20 militia 
and a schoolmaster; one carpenter; two mason~; D.ne blacksmith ; 10 labourers, canoe~ 
men and messengers; two cabboceers, and two hng ms ts. 
Allnamahoe Factory and S c1wol E ,tahlur.mellt, 
With a small detachment of troops from Cape Coast Castle constantly on duty. 
Dix Cove. 
A factory and school establishment. 
Enclosure, No . 3, in Dr. llIadde,,'s Instructions. 
(Ext~.ct.) Her ilIajesty's Sloop, Wolverine, 
~If, At Sea, off Elmina, 29 October 1839. 
r" obedience to your standing general memorandum of tbe 30th January 1839. I have 
the honour to mform you, that on the 23d instant r inspected the fort, &c. at Accra; and 
on the 25th Instant, the forts, &c. at Cape Coast Castle, the results of which are the 
fo\lowmg, reports ('laced agamst Lbe quesuons or points required to be ascertained in 
Mr. Hay s letter a t the 9th June 1831, annexed to your general memorandum. 
~o. 3.-What may be the extent R EPORT FOR AceR.\ • 
• nd value of the trade which is car- o ~he, '!'otal Annual I mports amount in cUl"l-ency to 
Tied on between this country and _7 ,;)7 ".. t ., VIZ. 
the forts 1 British manufactures - C. II ,12ti 
Colonial l,~66 
Foreign - I 1,900 
The Annual Exports of gold dust, palm oil, ivory, 
~nd .. n COl· ~, and lIIalagetta pepper, amount to 
o6, 130!., willch Ivere exported, as follows ;-
rn  British vessels - 11 
Foreign - 15 
R EPonT FOR CAPE CoAST C A sTLr. 
The I ~lpor ts ascertained at thi. place a ....•  for tlte 
whole a t t.he forts, and are stated to amount in _ 
re~cy from 190,000 I. to 200,000 I. cur 
fh e Expol·ts exceed the whole 200,000 I., th l' "reat 
portlOr~ o f whlc,h, Qs regurd' vnlue, C01\!'>i!'.b oft"(.Told 
dust, H'ory ana, palm. oil j cotton ~tl\d coHee I~n\: e 
Intel), been culttmtcd nnd cxpol"l\!d hy Mr. ~wan2 \' . 
but It I,S. $wted by ?-Ir. Mu.ct~an that hi :o. ltlt\au :-; ·0;-
nscertaH'I1n~ the c).uct 3.1UO Ulll" ,lrc necc"'~;l rily im~ 
perfect, from the nature ,'f lhe artiel.s. • 
R&rORT 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 5 
No. 4.-\Vhether any slave trad- REPonT .FROM ACCRA. Appenuix, NO.1 . 
ing is carried on upon the Gold iYIr. Hanson, the Commandant, states that it can-
Coast, and especially in the vicinity not be ascertai,:,ed, but it is suspected that the kings, Iustructions to 
of the forts. prmces and chIefs get nd of their bad subjects by Commissioner of 
selling of them to the Dutch for recruits, to be Inquiry. 
exported to Batavia, and also to persons engaged in 
the slave trade. Ancrah, the Dutch king orcabboceer 
and residing in Dutch Accra, is a noted slave dealer: 
and has frequently lately sold slaves to the Portu-
guese and others, which he generally marches down 
along shore to the Volta, Quetta, Oway and Owee; 
he not long since sold in his own house, in the pre-
sence of a Frenchman, 16 slaves, to a man of the 
name of Fernandez (called young Fernandez), which 
16 slaves he took away in his vessel, a schooner; on 
being spoken to by the Frenchman of the great risk 
he ran of being captured by the British cruisers, he 
said he was not afraid, because he towed a canoe 
astern and kept close in shore, and when chased, he 
put the slaves in the canoe and sent them on shore, 
preferring to run the risk oflosing them, should they 
escape from the crew of the canoe. 
REPORT FOR CAPE COAST. 
Mr. Maclean states that no slaves have been 
exported betwixt Cape A pollonia and the Volta since 
1829 and 1 830. 
Rear Admiral I have, &c. 
"rhe Honourable George Elliot, c. B. (signed) Wm. 'TUC1,.", 
Commander-in-Chief, &c. &c. &c. Commander and Senior Officer. 
Enclosure, No.4, in Dr. Madden's Instructions. 
My Lord, Cape Coast Castle, 27 January 1840. D 
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a communication addressed' to me by "led <1u~ 
your Lordship's predecessor the Mar9uis of Normanby, calling my attent,jon to the fact, that -----.:..!'.1.9.",/ISC 
lt appeared from a report of Celtam proceedmgs recently taken before the Bntlsh and __________ 
Spanish Court of Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone, against a Sp~nish slave vessel named 
the "Dous Amigos," that the vessel in question had called at this settlement, and been 
here supplied by at least one merchant with a quantity of goods, and instructing me to 
adopt such measures as would prevent similar breaches of the law in future. 
I have also had the honour 'of receiving your Lordship's despatches, under dates of the 
~d and 24th of October last, with their respective enclosures, wherein you direct that steps -1Ieu",'f;Pi"of 
be ~ken fo~' the rrosecution of l\1~. . (the person wh~ had ~uppljt!d the ".Dous o:~e. to;~t:~c J.ort'igll 
Amlgos" With artlGles of merchandize;. and With reference to a l~ttel' whICh I had prevlOu.sly A. le::!1'2S sett~~%F:$q; 
addressed to the Gold Coast CommIttee, on the I'eneral subject of slave vessels bemg of 11., /'0," II." 'l9. 
allowed to trade at these settlements, your Lordship enforces and explains the IVlal'quis lI~lIblelt'~;as;1)' to o;:~ 
of NOl'manby's previous instructions. E:t:~d16Se;r:Jngn':;J)': 
Upon receiving the Marquis of Normanby's despatch (the receipt of which I have not had "~';.f' I/:;:'839. ' 
any earlier opportunity of acknowledging), I lost no time in laymg it before the council of 4. dated 9 :;'tbe~.lrrnm 
magistrates. I have nO\v the honour to enclose a copy of certain resolutions thereupon ~ 4, t~:'~3.?-
passed by them, from which your Lordship will perceive that, while anxiously disclaiming ~.1. 
having ever enGouraged or connived at trafficking with known slave dealers, they have, in -
furtherance of the views of Her Majesty's Government, requested me to adopt such mea-
sures as will tend most ~ffectually to prevent persons engaged in the slave trade being in 
future supplied with stores or merchandize at any port in this colony. I have accordingly 
issued a proclamation, warning all persons against trafficking with notorious or even suspected 
s lave traders, and making known to them the severe penalties which they will incur should 
they be discovered doing so. I shall also in future cause all suspicious vessels to be most 
strictly searched, and, it necessary, detained. 
Upon those parts of your Lordship's despatches which direct the prosecution of Mr. 
I have also taken the advice of the council; and they are unanimously of 
opinion that I am not in possession of any legal ~rounds whereon to take even the initiatol'Y 
steps towards such a prosecution. I should be able, certainly, to establish the fact of 
Mr. having sold certain articles of merchandize to the master or supercargo of a 
vessel named the Ct Dous Amigos," but nothing beyond that fact. MI'. would 
naturally reply that such a person had certainly entered his warehouse and purchased those 
articles, payable on delivery, but that he neither knew, n OT was bound to know, that the 
man was a dealer in slaves; and it would be quite impossible for me to prove a guilty 
knowledf!e against Mr. or even to adduce legal proof that the vessel to which 
tbe purchaser of the goods belonged was in eff"ct intended , or fitted out for tbe slave 
trade. 
55 1 • B3 Under 
6 APPENDtX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Undcr these circumstances, I bave not deemed it advisable to institute any legal proceed-
Appendb:, No, 1. ings .<fainst Mr. until, after having put your LordshIp In possessIon of the actual 
Instructions to state 7,f the case, I shan receive your furtber instructions to that effect. Meanwhile, 
Commi-ssioner of Mr. being well known, and poesessed of large property here, can always be 
Inqtlir) , found to answer any charges that may be prefened again~t him. , , 
Uut, in point of f.ct, if Mr. has exposed 11Im~elf to legal pumshment by. hIs 
conduct in the instance referred to, I know of no merchant m the.whole colony, mdudmg, 
of cour,e, the Members of Council themseh'es, who has not In lIke manner,. and III ma.ny 
instances, rendered hinlself liable to similal' criminal proceedmgs bemg taken agamst hUll. I\: or 
is it pretended to be denied that, in a general sense, all these merchants knew or suspected 
that such vessels as the a Dous Amiaos H were connected. directly or mdlrectly, with the slave 
ttude; at least I have never seen a °Spanish, P6rtuguese or Brazilian vessel on this coast 
(and I have seen hundreds) that was 1101 so engag·ed. But they ~the merchants) have always 
considered themselves full y justified,as merchants, in sellmg their merchandIze to any person 
who might come to their wal'~hous~s prepnl'ed to pay them money, or other e~Ulvalent, !or 
their <Toods ' nor have I ever lmagmed for a moment that I could legally mterfere wIth 
such traffic: But, wherever I thought that I could legitimately interfere, I have always 
done so. I have uniformly interdicted canoeR or canoemen being su pplied to suspected 
vessels and these are essentially necessary to the prosecution of their illicit traffic th rough-
out a ~reat part of the Leeward . lave coast. I have, also, by every other means fairly in my 
power~ discouraged and inconvenienced them. 
I have issued orders to the commandants of the several fOlts strictly to enforce my pro-
clamation, and minutely to examine suspicious vessels anchorin~ in their roadsteads; and 
I have no heiiitation ill saying, that I think the measures whicil I have taken in conse-
quence of your Lordship's communications will have the effect of entirely preventing slave 
traders from being supplied with stores or merchandize from an)' part of this colony ill 
future. 
I have the honour to be, &c. 
George jlfaclean, 
President of the Council of Government· 
The Right Hon . Lord John Russell, 'I. P. 
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colouies, 
&c . &c. &c. 
CAPE COAST CASTLE. 
AT a Meeting of Council, held on the 12th of November 1839; 
Present: 
George Maclean, Esquire, President; 
J ames Swanzy, Esqtlire'}i\I be . 
Thomas Hutton, Esquire, em 1'S J 
The President laid hefore the Council a despatch which he had received fWID the ;lIarquis 
oftNormanby, Colonial Secretary, stating that it appeared, from a report of the proceedine: ... 
taken before the courts of mi..:xed commission at Siena Leone, that a 'fessel, named the 
" Dous Amigos." recently condemued as having been engaged in the slave trade, had been 
supplied by a merchant of Cape Coast with a quantity of gun, and powder. Lord Noruuulb" 
in calling his (t~e president's) attention to this tact, reminds him that trafficking wlth 
p~rsons engaged III the slave trade is contrary to the municipnllaws of Great Britn.in. Rod 
directs that it bl< strictly prohibited in future. 
The council, having taken into cOlllliidcraiion the above-mentioned despa.tch calDe to the 
following resolutions:- ' 
1st. That tbe authorities on the Gold Coast hM·ing never been, until the pre,ellt 
tin;te, instructe~ or authorised to interfere with ve~sels which they might suspect of 
bemg engaged In the slave trade} have never felt themseh'cs warranted ill domS!;' so, 
while ~uch ~essels, on visiting any of the various ports under their control, have ~trldly 
complied WIth the port regulations} and confined' themselves to le<Yi timate trnflk. • 
2d. That the. regulations of tl1e British ports on the Gold Co"ast require all ",-"I. 
anchormg therem to del,,'er m their certlncates of registry, and to furnish a ftlllllnd 
faithful accou~t of their cargoes to the local authorities, before l.,eing permitted to l'pen 
trade, or to ship 01' land mel'chandize. 
ad. That in the case of the \ressel, tt Dous Amigos)" ttlCotioop.d in the Secretary of 
State's despatch, it appears, on a lefcl'ence to the S-hippincor  list kept in the Secretnrv'~ 
office" that the above t'ep;ulati~ns were strictly complicd with, before Ulllt \'e~~~l "'3~ 
permItted to have any commerCial communication with the colony. 
4~h. ,TI~at t\lth~ugh the authorities might bave su~pected,' or ('''en knowll, fr(llu 
extl'IllSIC 1I1forl11\\tlon} that the tf Dous Amig-os" wn~ dt!st.ined for the Lee\\ard ... la'"c 
trade, yet, after she had complicn \\ ith tlie port regulation., they (the allthewi!i,,;) 
co~ l~ not have c~mcc'ved t.b,cluselvcs warranted in pl'e\>cniInq her froUl eUQ:Re;ing in 
legllimate trade, Without, !:-pec,fic grounds UpOIl which to justify !=;o $tron~ n ~lcp; ~ind 
th~t. the ~Hme obs('rnltlons apply to many othc.:'r "l:!s~eIs "hieh ho.\e tradeJ at tht~ 
BrltI~h Gold COllSt sl'ttlements, under circumstnnces precisely ~illli lu.r to th(,)~L' under 
which the" Dous Amigo." did $0. 
;,th. That 
SELECT COMlIUTfEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 7 
5th. That ever since the government of these settlements was placed upon its present Appendix, NO.1. 
footing, the authorities have shown tl~eU1selves most ~nxlOus to suppress a~~ discourage 
the slave trade by every means whICh they concelved they could leglttmately use Instructions to 
which is proved by the fact, that during the last ten years the exportation of slave~ Commissioner of 
has been effectually stopped along the whole line of coast subject to their control; Inquiry. 
whereas during the ten years tmmed.ately. precedmg, the slave trade was notonously ----
earned on to a considerable e.tent at vanous places subj ect to the dlrect contrul of 
the then authorities. 
6th. That in order to "ive effect to the instructions conveyed in the Secretary of 
State's despatch upon vhi;; subject, the President be requested to take such steps as 
will, in future, prevent vessels which he may have just reason to suspect being ahout to 
embark in the slave trade, carrying on any description of traffic at allY of the Gold 
Coast British Settlements; and that he be further requestec\ to prepare, print and cir-
culate a proclamation, warning aU persons against holding any communication with 
interdicted vessels. 
Extracted from the" Minutes of Council." 
Cape Coast Castle, Joseph Smitlt, 
12 November 1839. Acting Secretary. 
PROCLAMATION . 
Geo1'ge jllaclean. 
WHEREAS by the municipal laws of Great Britain, and more particularly by the pro-
visions of an Act of Parliament Eassed in the fifth year of the reign of his late Majesty 
George the Fourth (5 Geo. 4, c. 1I3), "'ll11ritish subjects are prohibited, in the most express 
and comprehensive terms, and under most severe penalties, from aiding, abetting ot' 
trafficking with, directly or indirectly, all or any persons or vessels engaged or about to be 
engaged in the shve trade, or fitted out witb tihat view or purpose: 
And whereas it appears from the reports of the proceedings taken before the Courts of 
lVli~ed Commission at Sierra Leone, as well as from other official and authentic represen-
tati~ns made to Her Majesty's Government, that vessels notoriously fitted out for the 
purpose of being employed in the slave trade, and commanded by persons notoriously con-
nected with that illicit traffic, have been in the habit of visiting various ports in this Colony, 
for the purpose of procuring articles of merchandize, the better to enable them to prosecute 
their illegal and detestable traffic in slaves :-1, therefore, having been instructed to that 
e/fect by Her Majesty's Government, and acting by and with the advice and consent of 6he 
Council of Government of this Colony, do hereby most strictly caution all Her Majesty's 
subjects in this Col0ny against directly: or indirectly aiding, abetting, "1' traffickin" with 
notorious slave-dealers, or their vessels, or persons or vessels whom there are ju~t and 
reasonable grounds to believe to be connected with the illicit traffic in slaves: and all 
magistrates, commanclants, and other officers are hereby strictly enjoined to prohibit all 
communication with slave vessels, or vessels evidently fitted up for that traffic, in their re-
specti:re ports or roadsteads, and to seize and detain such vessels, their officers, and crews, 
reportmg the same to me. 
Given under my hand and seal of the Colony at Cape Coast Castle, this 15th day 
of December 1 839. 
By 0rder of the President, 
(signed) J. Smith, Acting Secretary. 
- Appendix, No. 2. Appendix, No. '2. ~ 
Mr. Under Secre-
tary Hope to Dr. 
COpy of a LETfER from Mr. Under-Secretary Hope to Dr. "VaJden. Madden. 
Sir, Downing-street, 9 April 1842. 
A" directed by Lord Stanley to acquaint you, that your Reports on t.he state of the 
British Settlements on the Western Coast of Africa were, by his lordship, refeured to the 
law officers of the Crown, with reference to the question whether they afforded sufficient 
ground to conclude that the Acts for the abolition of the slave trade had been violated 
at those settlements by any of Her Majesty's subjects. From the answer to that reference 
it appeared, that there was not sufficient ground to justify such a conclusion. It results, 
theref0re, that the abuses which you have represented cannot be corrected or prevented by 
the existing law. Lord Stanley thinks it necessary that you should be apprised of this fact, 
because his Lordship anticipates that you will be called as a witness before the Committee 
of the House of Commons which has been appointed to inquire into the state of the 
settlements in question; and thipks it desirable that, with a view to your examination 
before that Committee, your attention should be directed to the questton, whether any 
amendment of the law be necessary, and to the mannei' in whieh that amendment, if 
necessary, could be most conveniently and effectually made. 
I have, &c. 
Dr. Madden. (signed) G. W. Hope. 
551. B4 
8 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appenui x, NO.3. _ Appendix, No. 3. -
(lOLl> COAST. 
C0ll111liSliionor's 
HCI'0I·t. REPORT OF COMMISS[oNER OF INQUIRY ON THE WESTERN 
COAST OF AFRICA. 
THE GOLD COAST AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 
CON l' E N T S. 
J\EPORT. 
Pnf;.6 P.t!O 
f Orl'l I\lul S(.'ulcmcnlll 011 the Quit! COIlU 9 Coso of the /I Dos Amig.o," I 1 Clitia of tho fI Robert Heduell" ~:) 
Cllpe ('onn 11 
Auolllnbo(l 16 Slft\'cry all the Gold COO\t ;,11) 
A cern 11 rulm Oil Trode _ • u 
~ l:xp~nditure Ct Cope COOlL COllie and it; De-DiICC(l\IO 18 
Elminn ~ 20 pendondos _ j(j 
Suggestod Alturtllions in the SyslC n\ ofGo\'ernmont :!U 
APPENDIX (A.) 
No. Pngc No. P.q .. 
I, Lillt of Prilloner) in Cupo Const CnSllc 37 '21. Lollar from Cnptnin Mnclcnn, with Aali"'o!ri ,t\ 
;: ,10 to (-luories respectill~ love. And Pown. ~ ~;:r.~~:~~l~~~~~c~~ ~t~~h'OS, ~ilto = .\0 2~. Li\lt of BuDny Trndo Driullh Ve.:.lIoel •. Ton-
.,,", C<ltfoo Pill1Hotioll Itonr di tto II nnic, &c. - - - - - -,:) j 
~ . Dilitl\llCl'l of Plnces in tho "icinilY of dina II 2:1. F.xport8 rroln Liverpool to AfneD, 1680-10 - ,J I 
6, l\lorchtl ut Vcs",l ll!l nrrivcd ut dina 1'2 '2·t Invoice of Goodlli nnd StOrt for Three 1 Uh 
7. EtJloru for 10 Yen .... , up to 18·H, from ditto IS for Cupc Canst Co.tle -
O. Import:! - ditto - - into ditto - -13 '35. E"p#'nditufo for Go\'emment of Cn~ ('OMt 
q. DC:iicription orC;oods lmp0rlctJ into ditto )3 Cn,tle for Th~ Yenn _ - - - .fl 
10. Letler from 1\lcrchnnu or ditto - -i3 ~G. Grnnt!S for (hUt) 00 
11. ltOVOll1lll oml HCliou tec' of ditto - ,~ 'J7. LalleNl of Complaint rrom Soldier. at CalX' 
12. L(mor from COf,lllin l\ l nclcnll - - - ·I!! Const Cn.rle _ • - - - - dl) 
: ~: ~!~i~n~toOn~I~2~lr~1~SJ~(\~~~I~:~~~~~I~tt ~o~~i~ ·~6 '28. l.l' tlor from Mr. nroce', PrisoMf, whose Wit" oud Child wero Ituld:\s Powns til 
Sollorl1Wr '17 2{). Lotlcn: (rom \'Ariou. Prisonen nnd olhcn. ;It 
I ~. PrOOllllUnlioll prohihitin~ Shu'" 'l'1'Qdo - 41 Cnpo Const Cnltle 01 
16. \ 'clI!lol. oll~n&cd in Sh\\,u'l'nHII.) touching nt 30. An Act ror Icvring nn A ~I"'Mmt'nt fl,r 01,"1\-
17. ·10 lninin~ I\. Mihtin, nnd lor ol lLctin «Ham Sir ~~ISI~l ~~~;~ni~J, Lc;ter t~ Dr. Mnc.ld-cn 01~ Light L)uc:!> - - _. {' I 
~Invl'ry fin Gold Contt - - - - 18 5 1. ProciQllIntion of Sir Juhn J t'rtmie d,.., 
18. l'I'f'leat oj' I\lIl~iMlrnt f'& of Cupe Conat CnstJe :12. I.clter flom J. Bann\:rmon, "'~"KI' "" Sl:.n~-
nv.~ill.t Abolition ot' ~h\\'ory - - - I\') Trude fuctoncs on the Gold COllst • (Hi 
HI. llor.I!01~~ ~t oC _Acd~g Ol~\'tl rIlO_r or _S i ern~ :'0 :13. 01\ lha Siove-Tnulinil FUl!tl)ries in the \'lCillil'1 of Lo..it0', Popoe, ~c. - - - • (t(1 
'lO, L~'ller from PCI~on. cullins lhomsc!\'l'; r nwn, :} L 011 tho Stavo Tr:ull.) in lhe Hight of Diarc, - u, 
1,)1' Cuplnin l\'Jnchmn - - - -.50 
APPENDIX (D.) 
l. Qllflri~1I nlltlrCI"Iod to Prtl ... icl cnt of Council, l Q. Qucl·ic. tl(tdrclO"~ to l\lr- Onrtdl • l)( Elmin •• 
Cnpe ConlH, 011 Slntt of Forh, Adminill tm- 00 Scbool!\, M t''1ion., ~c. .. <)1) 
lion (If 1.IH"', ~c. _ _ - - 08 13. Ditto, Rev. J. It Fr\."-'"1.I\1\, d:.uo " ~ 
'!. Ditto, (~ommulld l\llt of A nnmn.bol'. dino 71 I-L. niUb, R CI', 1... 1l ,,~ L. - - ditto ~ll 
~. Dino - ditto - u( n ilCO\'O - dino 73 1.\, nino, Prt,',idcot of Coundl, ("hmBlc, 
I, Diuu - diuo - of .\CCrR - ditto - 7.\ Suil,.xc. - o•  
•' i. Ditto, Pr(l.id~nt or Coullcil, on ,.\'[erchnndilo t ~n, I)"to, l)r. Cohboh.l - dino 01 
ror Arrknn l\fmhll. ~('. - - - 713 Hi. niull, !\lr, Wil Cli l • - - dtUoJ ·101 
6. Oiun, COllunnlldnllt of Acern ditto - - 10 11. Dltll.l, Cummnndnnt fit' .\ ("('rl' - Jilh) _ Illi 
7. Ditto - clitto - of AUI\I.u~hOl' dillo 7{l 10, nlthl . ditto - ui .\nollln\JoC', d.1I 1) • hJd 
8. nitti'l, PI"t,.idfoni of r.ouncil, nil SI~\'1\ TrQd(\ - t\ 1 l(). I1ltll), g, II. Dllrtdll, of ~~Imilll\ - lIithl h).t 
P. DiHo, (":unlluflndnnt of Allt\mnbot' ditto - 83 I~ll. Olth-', \",oJl",tnlll ~llr)l.'o(\l1 Chnritnn. diu'!) - III 
10. Diull ditto - of ArC't.l -' ditto • 0.., ,~1. Ditto, AIsllul\1\l ~lIr..:f'Ol\ nlfMrd. dltt" ILl 
It. Ditto, l'roll iilt"nt Qf COlln('il, un School., Mis- U\\. Diltll, Cnptnin Hn)wn, un nonn} TI1\~lo - 11.1 
.luo~, 1\:('. - _ - - • - ST 
SELECT COMMl'lTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 9 ,A ppendix, NO·3· 
GOLD COAST. 
Appendix, No.3. Commissioner's 
Report. 
REPORT of Her Majesty's Commissioner of Inquiry on the STATE of the BRn-ISH page 1 of Repo?'t 
SETTLEMENTS on the Gold Coast, at Sierra L eone, and the Gambia, with some Observa- as originally 
printed. 
tions on the Foreign Slave-Trading Factories along the Western Coast of Africa, in the 
Year 1841. 
P URS U A N T to the instructions of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Oolonies, the 
foll owing matters were duly examined into, and the result of the best consideration that 
c.ould be given to these subject. will be found in the following order :-
1st. The state and condition of our forts and settlements on the Western Coast of Africa, 
their trade, population, resources, and government. 
2<1. The facilities afforded in these settlements to the forei gn slave traders resorting to 
tbem, by affording supplies in goods or stores that are essential to the trade. 
3d. The prospects and practicabili ty of emigration from Sierra Leone to our West Ind ia 
Colonies. 
4th . The climate, salubrity, ahd nature of tbe locality of our settlements on the Western 
Coast of Africa: and in addition to these subj ects, I have to add the consideration of two 
very important ones, not specified in my instrllctjons, hut which, in their execution, became 
part and parcel of them, and which I conceived I would not have done my duty had I left 
unnoticed, or taken no steps to r.emove the evils connected with them ; these subj ects 
are:-
1. The existence of slaverv in our settlements on the Gold Coast. 
2. The co-operation of Br.itish commerce w ith slave-trade interests, at the factories of 
notorious slave dealers on tbe Western Coast of Afbca. 
The several forts on the Gold Coast, previous to 1821, were vosted in the late African. 
Company, wb en, at that period, they were transferred to the Crown. It was not th eu 
thought necessary to keep and maintain all these forts and establishments, and at the 
recom mendation of Sir Charles M'Carthy, then Governor of Sierra Leone, by wbom this 
transfer was carried into effe ct, four of these forts only were retained, namely, Cape Coast 
Castle, Anamaboe, Di xcove, and Accra. From t he year 1760 to 1807, namely, for 57 
years, the Parliamentary grant for tbis service averaged 13,431 1. per annum, and Ii'om 1807 
it was augmented to 23,000 l. per annum. 
' In 1823 tbe Legislature granted 17,800 I. for the civil government of those places, 
exclusive of a provi. ion for the military establishment. In 1824 the Ashantee war involved 
the Government in g"oat expen.es. So early as ~ the King- of As):>antee had "ent an 
army of 15,000 ruen agaiQst the Fantees, on the Gold Coast, and laid waste their COQlltry 
close to our establishment at Anamaboe. They defeated an army of 9,000 men, and then 
attacked the B,itish fort, defended only by 12 men, who successfully repulsed the whole 
army of barbarians. In 1 811 and 1816 they made new incursions into this country. The 
king, on his return to his country, sacrificed 3,000 human victims on the grave of his 
mother ; and at his own deafu the sacrifice was continued weekly for three months, on each 
occasion 200 slaves having been k illed . Dupuis, in 1820, during his mission to Comassie) 
saw the people stained with blood , and the palace itself reeking with gore, his majesty 
having just been employed in sacrificing 70 of his victims. Our agent" now entel'ed io:.to 
a treaty wi th him, by which they acknowledged his claim to sovereignty all the Gold Coast, 
and nothing was stipulated for, but our own jurisdiction within our forts anu their imme-
diate vicinity, This treaty was not ratified by the government at Cape Coast, .Mr. D upuis 
having gone, it was thougbt, too far in acknowledging the supremacy of the Asbantee 
marauder over the Fantee country. Tbe beavy t ribute imposed on the conquered people 
having been refused payment of in the year 1824, the King of Ashantee again invaded the 
Fantee country, with an army of 15,000 . men, a force which Sir Charl es M CCarthy ventured 
to attack with about 1,000 British- soldiers a,ud a large multitude of Fantees, amongst - -pag-e-"2'-o-'·"ig--.-
whom there was neither order, discipline, nor courag e. The battle ensued~ in which S ir 
Charles M'Cartby was unfortunately defeated and killed . The defeat, it is well to bear in 
.mind, was occasioned, not by the insuffic iency of the European force, small as it was, but 
by the neg1igence of the ordnance storekeeper in taking the ammunition out of store, 
and, instead of sending the number of kegs of powaer that were required, sending by 
mistake a corresponding number of casks of vermicelli, which happened to be deposited in 
the magazine. 
The Ashantees, after their victory, besieged Cape Coast· Castle, and pressed it very 
closely for some months ; but at length retired from the wa.lls, and were not agam seen 
in the Fantee country, until the refusal of the Fantees to pay tribute again broug ht down 
au army of Ashantees in 1826. This army was encountered by a British force near Accra, 
where the Ashantees were signally defeated, chiefly by the terror which tbe use ofCongreve 
rockets spread among tbeir hordes. Peace was then made with the King of Ash.ntee; two 
hostages were g iven by him, namely, his son and his nephew, and a sum of 600 ounces of 
gold was lodged in the bands of the British authorities as a guarantee for his faithful , 
observance of the treaty. 
In 1827, the greatness of the expense occasioned by the late war, ~he disasters attending 
the proceedings of Sir Charles M'Carthy, and the decline of commerce on the coast, 
55 l • C induced 
10 APPENDlX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO. 3. induced the Government to ";ithdraw all the public establishments from the coast, and 
to give up the government of them to a company of African merchants on Ihe following 
GOLD COAST. terms :-
1st. That Cape Coast and Accra should continue dependencies of Sierra Leone. 
Commissioner's 
Report, 2d. That British law should continue in force there. 
3d. That the affairs of the forts should be managed by a committee of mercbants in 
London appointed by the Government. . . 
4th. That five of the merchants residing in the forts should . f?rm a counCi l of magtstrates 
for the regulation of the internal affairs of the forts , and exefCIslDg aU such powers as might 
legally be conferred u pon them for the preseryation of th~ (,eace, the protection of the 
forts, and the repressIOn of the slave trade ~v l thlll their hO::lts. and . mlluence; prOVIded, 
however, that the magistrates should not exerCise authonly or Junsdlction over the dls tfiCts 
and natives under the immediate infl uence or protection of the for ts, but solely 10 the 
forts, roadsteads, and harbours thereunto adj oining, as well as over tbe persons residing 
therein. 
5tll. That 4,000 I. a year should be granted to the London committee for the maintenance 
and reparation of the bui ldings, and the providing a sufficient garrison fo r the forts. 
6th. That the harbours of Cape Coast and Accra should be open to a ll vesscls wi thout 
payment of any duty whatever. 
7th. That tbe sum thus granted should be duly accounted for, and returns of the trade 
shoulQ he annually presented to tbe Government. 
8tll. That the grant should be fixed annually after the examination of the accounts, and 
transmittal of the reports from the coast. 
9th. That no rules, regulations, or appointments made by the London committee sbould 
be valid until approved of by the Governmeut. 
Since the pre~ent system of commercial government came into operation DO material 
change has taken place, save a reduction of the grant from 4,000 I. to 3,500 t. during the 
years 1834, 1035, 1036, 1837, 1830, and 1839. In 1 8~0 it was again increased to its 
former amount. 
The forts formerly occupied by the African committee were the following: -
Apol/ollia Fort, inconsiderable for its size and strength, to tl,e eastward of Cape Apollonia, 
about 30 miles from Asinee. The fort is now dismantled and abandoned. The landing is 
extremely bad, but there is still some trade carried on in gold. The king of tbis country i 
t he terror of all the neighbourin€: districts. Human beings are frequently sacrificed by bim, 
and be is generally in open enmity with our authorities at Cape CoasL 
Succolldee was formerly resorted to for gold, but is at present little frequented. T he 
block-house, which belonged to the English, was destroyed by the French. 
Commellda lies about three leagues to the eastward of Elmina. It is situated in the 
W'!.rsaw coulltry, and was once a place of trade, and was frequented by the slafe tr.ulers 
for tf,e purchase of canoes. 
COr01llallly" was the first \llace where the English established their slave trade on the 
page 8 orlg. coast. The fort is now in rums, about a league from Anamaboe. There is not on the coast 
a more dreary, and, to all appearance, a more desecrated land. 
Talltllmgllerr!J is about six leagues to the eastward of AnalDaboe. The ruins of the fort 
are still lefL, and there is very little trade, notwith tanding its being very favourably 
~Jtuat(1d for It. 
Winebah is about six leagues eastward of Tantumquerry. The fort was destroyed by the 
orders of Government ill 1812, on account of the murder of GOIernor Meredyth by the 
natives. A path was formerly kept open to the gold cOllntry of Kibhes. hips could 
water and obtam refreshments here; and tl!, trade was conSiderable. The natives have 
dearly paid for their violence to Governor 1I1eredyth, by tbe loss of their trade with us . 
• 1 hey have frequently. applied of late for permission to rebuild the fort, and have e,'cn 
offered to do so at the" own expense. A good deal of mai7." is brought down from the 
interior. There is a good fresh -water river here. 
Whidah is a great slave place, about 130 miles eastward of Accra. The cbief facto ry 
here IS that of the notOTlOUS ~ortl.lguese slave ,dealer, De Souza. In po. sing to Grewee
J 
a very la.rge to\"~' at a short dls,t.ance from ' Vllldah. a V8 t lagoon has to be forded, which 
comlUuntcate~ With the sea at LIttle Po poe. , 'Vhjd~h is in the Kl~g of Dahomey's country, 
and the Portuguese slave dealer, De. Souza, IS the Viceroy of the district. Witl, the e, cep-
tlon of th~ Klllg of Ashantee, the Kill/!: of Daho,?-,ey slays more mell in the way of sacrifice 
(w!let!lcr t?r sacnfice ~r funernl, or for recreatIOn o~ fe tal occasIOns,) thai, any other 
clllcf III thiS part of Africa. Thousands of human belU~ are annually sncriliced in his 
capital of Abomey. Lately, In honour of De Souza, on hiS paying a Visit to the capit:1I, 
n conSiderable number were put to death, as was the case at Comu-ssie ou the arri,-ai there 
of the Dutch General Vcrveer. At \ Vhidah a person commnncimg n "'essel of a house of 
London, <tatcs lhat he has a factory, fi'om which tbe great slal e acalers at thut place are 
.upphed With th~,e goods wl1lch nre ess.enllal to their tmde. hory is rotl",r "bund"nt 
he!", und,shlps hnd 110 dilliculty 11 1 In)'lIIg III ,tock. Th iS fort was abandoned by lh,-
Afncan Company, and It IS now gl't'utly to L~ ft'gletled Hint tl "US gwen up. 
T he 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFR1CA. 11 
The forts that are now kept up are; Cape Coast Castle, James Fort, A€cra, Anamaboe, Appeudix, NO.3. 
Rnd .Dixcove. 
Cape Coast Castle is tbe largest of fihese fo~,ts. It is kept in e",cell ent order and repair; GOLD COAST. 
is provided witb rain-water, which is far supenor to that of tbe town, and IS k~pt Ill. aeep 
reservoirs, which formerly served for dungeons for t~e ,slaves, \.~here tibey were J{ept prior t? Commissioner's 
tbe period of sale and embarkation . All the. bUlldmgs whICh serve. for the governor S Report. 
residence, the barracks, the hospit(l i, and 'bh-:: pnson, are contamed wltlhl?- the \~alls o.f the 
cast l ~; and t!11ese, wit~ the excepti.on of t?e two. ~i.1lal1 forts on the r ~elghbourmg helgl~t's, 
constItute the only ter.ntory belonO'lOg to nbe BrItish Government. I he gr0und 011 whIch 
the castle and these forts stand w~s origin~lly taken at an annual rent from the natives. 
It is a question whether the inland range of the guns of the castle ougbt to be. considered 
the limits of our territory, and whet'ber ~he town of Cape Coast,..JY,hlCh ;s wlfbm gunshot 
of the castle, ought to be considered BritIsh terPltory or not . .1:he ~atrve bng, Aggery, ' 
and a number of the head men and cabo?eers of the tOWll, argued 111 .my presence ~ery 
strenuously against tbe opinion of the natlvesof Cape Coast hemg conSIdered as suhJeots 
of the EnO'lish sQvereio-n' and 1 must confess It seemed to me With a great deal of reason 
on their side. vVhen th~y were attacked by ~helr enemies, the A~hante~s, we were not able 
to afford them any adequate protection, and, ill ~he present undeClded clrcums~aTlCes , of the 
case, when tbe right of territory is doubtful, It would be far better tbat nght was not 
claimed till a better mode of administering the government, and somethmg hke judicial pro-
- ceedings of an English cbaracter, sbould be carried into effecD At present no judicial 
establishment exists on tbe Gold Coas1t<but all dasses of crimes and offences are taken 
cogmzance of hy tbe magistrates, sUfMlanly dIsposed of by commIttal to gaol, and for 
period~ of unlimited extent, .01' p~rUs~ed -iSy fin.es ~ and. in some cases, I .am informed by 
Captam Tucker, of Her lI1aJesty's shIp Wolverme, to hIS own knowledge, by death. ThIS 
awful responsibility of .he Governor and his ConnClI should be removed, and in every case 
of crime for which a capital punishment is called, elsewhere. The exel"C'ise of the functi0llS page 4 O1ig. 
of judge and jury should never devolve on a colonial governor, or the mercllants who may 
ha ppen to compose bis conncil. . 
The extent of the exercise oj j udicial powers conferred,. not by law but by passing 
exigencies) goes to a very extraordinary extent here. I was mformed by the President of 
the Council of Government, that he had to take cognizance of cases where application.. for 
divorce had been made to him; and ence, in the instance of a female, now mistress of tbe 
school at Cape Coast, married to a European, in which case he had pronollnced a formal 
sentence of divorce, and had th'e sentence duly recorded in the archives of his otfice. 
The difficulties and evils that arise from the present anomalous system, of government 
and the tot",l ahsence of a judical establishment, can only be judged of hy actual observa~ 
tion, or by reference to the following list of prisoner~ confined in Cape Coast Castle, made 
out in the month of April last, when I called for an examination into every individual case 
before the council and magistrates. On that examination there proved to be U0 less than 
91 persons in confinement; some who had been immured for upwards of four years, others 
for terms of one, .two, and three years; and in no instance but one a definite tepm of im-
prisonment was recorded in the book in which the prisoner's n,ame, date of committal, or 
the crime or amount of debt for which the person had been confined was stated. 
A great ·number of these cases were those of natives from adjoining districts, for crimes 
committed or debts contracted in places in wbich we had no territorial rights, and conse-
quently over the natives of which we bad no jurisdiction. 
In reply to my applicatioT)s for the release of a number of tbese prisoners, tbe presiding 
magistrate and member of council argued that ~he influence of the Gover.nment ,vas ex-
tended more widely and beneficially for the natives by tbe means that were adopted for the 
re-presslon of crime and the prevention of injustice on the part of the pynims or native 
judges, who are notoriously corrupt and litigi.qus.; that it conciliated the native ohiefs to 
take cognizance of tbose cases which they sentto the authorities at Cape Coast for adjudi-
cation or pUll1shrnent, and t~at III many cases It was an aot of mercy tQ the culprits to tak.e 
them out of tbe hands of theu' own chiefs, whose anger they might have incurred. 
I admitted that such might be tbe case, but the authorities of Cape Coast were not justi-
fied in becomlng the ministers of the vengeance of the barbarous chiefs in their vicinity, or 
the d ispensers of tbeir laws, however mildly they might administer them; that lengthened 
periods of imprisonment, limited to no legal term, and the confinement at all of persons 
over whom we had no legal authority, was an infraotion of the second stipulation in the 
compact entered into with the Government, namely, a That British law should continue in 
force in these forts;" and likevvise of the fourth, that "The magistrates shall nOl exercise 
authority or jurisdiction over the dislricts and nabives under the immed.iate influence or pro-
tecti?n of the forts." The magistrates, however, were of opinion that British law was not 
applicable to the state of a setdement like ~hat of Cape Coast; that it would be impossible 
to carry that law into execution, and to exercise at the same time the great influence which 
they had over a district extending some 30 miles inland, and which they had no military 
force sufficient to secure or to control. 
If British law was not applicable to the people who lived under our protection on the 
Gold Coast, I begged to be informed under what code, Russian or Turkish, justice was 
administered here, and by what authority tbe h.w, which was exclusively directed by the 
cOJ'npact already cited to be in force in these settlements, had been set aside. 
The presiding magistrate informed me they bad a written autbority for dispensing witb 
it; but this authority was not produced, and it only remained for me to demand the libera-
tion of those prisoners whose cases I considered those of the greatest hardship and injustice; 
551. ' C 2 the 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO.3. 12 
GOLD COAST. the remainder were left in confinement, and those per!;ons who kept some of them 10 it, I was of opinion, ought to have been pro~ecut.ed ; ~~t the old colonial notions of ~ncon­
trolled authority had taken too deep root IU tillS Bntlsh settlement to be easily eradicated. 
Commissioner's 
Report. The following tahle shows the names of the pnsOliers, thClr cnmes, their debts, and. date 
of committal, together with some brief observations of mine on the cases of particular 
individuals. 
The controversie. of the natives of the adjoining districts are frequently referred, by the 
consent of both parties, to the President of the Council for decision. There can bc ~o 
question but the natives find their advantage in bringin" these palavers before Captam 
~p~a~g~e-:5"'o::-:r~ig::".- Maclean, the justice of whose rlecis ions is ackno~ledged by all I'artles, rather than In 
placing themselves in the hands of their chiefs or klllgs, whose rapacity and venality IS but 
too familiar to all their subj ects . . 
But independently of the great loss of time occasioned by the settlements of these disputes, 
and the neglect of necessity of other official dutlOs of higher 1.~port.1.n~e, the Imposition of 
heavy fines on the pel'sons against whom an unfavourable deCIsIOn IS g iven, seem~ to me to 
be very objectionab le:- Having called for a statement of the amount of fines levied all the 
natives, and the disposal of them, I found they amounted, from June 1839 (0 Uecember 
1 840, (0 I B7 l. 5 s. sterling, and were expended for the purchase of pubhc stores, and the 
defrayment of the expenses of tbe militia service. . . 
The government of this settlement IS adnuOls(ered by a PreSident of th~ Council ; the 
other officers are a secretary, a military commandant, an.d a surgeon. There 1S no chaplam, 
no chief justice., no Queen's advocate. The forts of Dlxcove, Anamaboe, and Accra, are 
commanded by commandants who are magistrates, none of whom, with the exception or the 
commandant of Accra, receive any pay. There are no European troops employed here. 
The officers' salaries on the coast are as follow s :-
President of the Council - £.620 
Secretary 200 
Commandant of truops 200 
Surgeon 200 
--1,220 
The salary of Commandant of Accra - - - - 100 
The salary of Secretary to the African Committee in London 200 
Incidental expenses there 20 
120 
£.1,640 
The troops at Cape Coast Castle are commanded by a European. They are natives of 
the place, enlisted by the colonial authorities, are well-behaved, and for order and discipline 
fully equal to any of our West Indian regiments. 
The frightful mortality of the troops when European soldiers were employed here is 
strongly contrasted with the mortality among the native soldiers now employed, the death. 
of the latter for the last 10 years not having exceeded aile per cent. a year. The habits of 
these men are temperate, the~r conduct good and orderly, aud their discipline exeeUeut; a 
rew of tbem profess Christianity, but tbe great majority of tbem are Pagans. The pay of 
the men is nom.inally 25 s. each a month, paid in pieces of cotton handkerchieli:t ('aIled 
"RoOlauls," and rum, the value of which has been so depreciated since the period when .the 
rote \"a6 fixed at which these commodities should be given, that the amount the sold1ers 
actually receive for these r0018uls and ruUl does not exceed 7 s. 6 d. a month, according to 
their own statement, and all the inquiries made by myself on the subject; but accortlin~ to 
to Captain Maclean, to two and a half Spanish dollars, which is equal to about 10 $ .. terlmg. 
The fact is, the romaul of cloth and gallon of TUm each man received at the '':llue of 2~ '. 
are now valued in the Government's and m\,rchants' stores at upwards of 10.!i.; hut the 
soldier will not get value in tbe market for tbe romaul to tbe amount of more than one aekle 
or dollar, 4 s. 4 d. sterling, and for tbe gallon of rum 3 s. ~ d., in all 7 s. G d. lerlin;:-. \\ lule 
the current pnce of tbe cloth may be III olher hands from 6 s. 8 d. to 7 s. 6 d. On making 
more particular inquiries at the repeated instances of the troops, I found that eVeU thl~ 
3mount was not received by more than about half the number of the soldiers, fur the g'lllon 
of rum bad been taken from the pay. of nearly one-half of tb~ men, in order by this saving 
to e~able the Presldentof the Council,. as be Informed me, to provide the outports With an 
additional nnmber of militia-men . ThIS subtractIOn of the me~s POI', deprecinted ns the 
value is ?f the comm?dities in which they arc l~ai d, is loudly and bitterly complall1cd of by 
the soldIers, and wlth great reasoD, It certamly seems to me. In the Append ix , will 
be found severlll of their applications to me on this subject, expressive of tllcir dls.'ali,faclion 
with tbe manner in which they are paid, and the reduction whicb bas been nlade in lh"IT 
pay. Tbey state, with perfect truth, t hat the .mount they recci"e is insufficient for the 
maintenance of themselves and famil ies; that they have to pay to their women half a romanl 
page 6 orlg. a month, and n bottle of rUm each for their food, and the remainder does not sutHce fOT their 
other necessaries, a part of thelT clothing, soap, lVa.hing, &.c. Thnt the c1othm~ \\ hlel> 
ought to be ISBued to them at stah'd periods is so lrI'egularly issued ns to <'cclL'ion the 
IIcceBsity of freqnently. pm-chasing other clothe and shoC', and they oilly bc~ th,'l a money 
paymcnt may be substItuted for thnt ill ~ood" and that tho) amount DIn, be fixed nl on,··h"It' 
of the present nominal one of 2;') ~'!., that iR fO say, at 12 s. I) c/. !'.tel'lino- n ul.onth. 1 cOllsider thl", 
JllBnn(;r the soldiers nrc pu.td at Cnpe Coa~l to be di"graccful to th~ character of our uaUr.I\ 
Ilh 
SBLECT OOMlVIlTTRE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 13 
with the natives, and extremely unjust tq the men; at the 'present period when the same Appendix, NO.3. 
facililies for recruiting are not afford~d at Sierra Leone for our West I ndia regiments and 
Afl1can C0,r-pS, o li account of slave shq~s befng ra"'FelJ captured now wIth slaves m them, rit GOLlD GOAST. 
would be highly l1ecessary to make t be service as desirable as pbssible to t he nati.,.es on the 
Gold Coast, and (0 render vhose who have becbme soliliers contented ivith the service. Commissioners 
I wotHd strongly recommend that a money payment should be made in lieu of the present neport. 
one iu goods; that its amount be fi Ned at 12 s. 6 d. sterhng a n\o1)lh, and that mstead of 
having recourse to the reluctant and generally insufficient service'S of a militia force, that an 
addition of 80 or 100 men be made to the permanent establisbed forces at Cape Coast Castle 
and its dependencies. 
The piece of" romaul," of whieh mention iSm3ae 3!bove, as tJhe monthly pay of the soldier, 
- contains six "fathoms" oC haudkerchiefs, and each fabhom is about "'lu. l to two yards of 
cloth, or two handkerchiefs and a balf. A servant's wages at Cape Coast is about three or 
four fathoms of bandkerchiefs a month, and the ordinary rate of daily wages, when men are 
employed by Eumpeans at any kind of fi eld labour, is from 2 d. to 3 d. a day, paid likewise 
in romauls . The want of metal cUl' rency is greatly felt here by the natives, and the conse-
quence of tlie want of it is, cheap labour to the Europeans, and excee.t.ingly dear goods to 
the nati. . es, and I cannot see how the evil of ill-paid labour and high-priced cbmmod lties can 
be expected to he remedied by a Government whose interests are purely mercantile, and 
while t he objects of these merchants, who are its magistrates, must be to make the 
labour 0f the uatives as cheap as possible, and the ..a lue of their goetds as high as bhey well 
can do. 
Cowries are current here to a ~an extent, one string, consisting of 40 shells, is wortb 
1 d., or 9,600 to 1 1. sterling. 
Manchester goods, or pieces of cloth and handkerchiefs, form the chief medium of circu-
lation, and are sold at about 7 s. 6 d. a romauJ, which consists of six fathoms. 
Iron bars are likewise made the standard of value, and cottons and otber soft goods are 
sold by the bar, the .. alue of which in different places on the coast varies considerably. In 
Park's time 150 bars were equivalent to 1 51. sterling. 
There js a small quantity of British coin, in copper and silver, current in CaFe Coast, a~d 
is most eagerly .sought after by tbe natives, who find the great conveniencre and benefit of 
trading with it instead of bavrng the trouble of weighing out, or anxfously watching the 
weighing ont of a few grains of gold dust, or the measuring and tearing off a, fathom or two 
of flimsy cJo.h, in exchange for their daily articles of food . 
I would recommend the introduction of copper and si lver coin to the amount of the pay 
of tIle troops at least, into the settlement, and tbat the Government would not sanction the 
practice o'fpaying their officers in merchandise, or disposing of merchandise by the measure 
of romauls or bars, but at the rate of a metallic CUFre1l0Y, and all accounis'to I?e kept ei ther 
in Spani~h ilollars or English moneys. 
The native population in Cape Coast i8 about 5;000 . The European merchants 12, the 
missionaries six, and other white residents perhaps] 2 more. 
There are four magistrates besides the President of Council. The former are appOinted by 
the Governor 0f Sierra Leone; the latter by the London committee, subj ect to tbe approval 
of the Government. 
The num bel' of stone houses belonging to the EU1'0peans, or natives connected with them, 
is about 18, and are supposed to be worth frOID 1,000 I .. to 2,000 l. 'tert ing each. The 
natives live in very comfortable" swish" houses, made of mud, which become hard and 
durable, and last so long as the roof resists the rains. The dwet.Ji.ngs of the natives) both 
at Cape Goast and in the interior, are far superior in sfze, cleanl1ness, and comfort to the 
miserable buts 0'1' the Egyptian peasants, or t he no less wretched cabins of the I rish pea-
santry. The territory 01 Cape Coast originally belonged to a nation called the Fetus, which 
ll<?W scarcely can be said to exist, and the remains of it are a.bsorbed in nhe Fantee people, 
tbe present owners of the soil. ' page 7 orig. 
The authori ties at Cape Coast exercise their influence over the whole of the country from 
Dixcove to Accra, an extent of 120 miles; and the President of the Council, in reply to a 
question of mine on this subject, states, "That the territory belonging to it," speak 11lg of 
the 10cal go~etnD1ent, "is understood to comprellena the entire colony £l'om Dixcove to 
Accra." This way of understanding the matter, I tbink, bas led to an exercise of authority 
over the natives, whose soil we seem to consider €lUI'S, and yeJ where we positively have no 
territori.1 rights. It is very true the exercise of that authority has tended to repress the 
slave trade in those parts, and for the last 10 years the slave trade ma.y be said to have 
ceased on tbe wl\ole line of coast from , Apollonia to Accra; but tbis has been accomplished, 
I think, at the expense of our character for strict justice with the natives. Tbey consider 
us as seeking after our own advantages, and endeavouring to become masters of the country 
on the pretence of putting do\VIl th is, trade. They are repressed by the fear of punishment 
from Ganying it on ; but Ollr right to punish they do Dot acknowledge, and they remain as 
desirous as ever of stea1ing and selling men, and as little c'onvinced of thp. impolicy and 
inj ustice of it. - I never spoke to one 'of their chiefs or cabbaceers who did not speak of the 
cessation of the slave trade with regret. The old King Aggery, at Cape Coast, openly 
boasted to me of the active part he had taken in it ; and, in defending the custom of 
making and holdinO' slaves, he said, {C ';Ve would wish to have nothing to do here with 
English laws; we like to bave the English here, but not to make Jaws for us; the country 
lS ours, and 1ye are the allies of England , but we do not want to be made its subjects; the 
fOl't belongs to you, but the oountry belongs to us." The fact is, the rights of the people 
are kept in abeyance between the claims of their own cbiefs alld the pretensions of our 
551. C 3 local 
14 APPENDlX 1'0 REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO.3. local government; and the influence of fear, and, to a certain extent, that of the charactet' 
of the present Governor for the impartiality of his decisions in their" palavers,:' is the only 
GOLD COAST. hold we have on the natives. With the exception of the impedllnents thrown m the way of 
the native chiefs sacrificing- human beings, for which object great praise is certaioly due to 
Commissioner's Captsin Maclean, civi lization has certainly not advanced one step beyood the precinct. 
Report. of the castle nor has the cessation of the slave trad e been attended WIth those beneficial 
results which ought to have been expecterl from it. There are n~ appearances of increased 
cultivation; the whole country about Care Coast is one g reat Wilderness of verdure, where 
nothing is found to grow that needs culbvation, except here and there, at long and distant 
intervals, a patch of ground on which the bush has been burnt, a s.maU quantity of yams or 
ma.ize has been planted, and that crop tak en off, the sad goes back mto J uogle, and the next 
season no sign of tillage is to be seen. . . . . . 
It is only about 1:; or 20 miles from tbe sea-side where cultivatIOn IS carned on to any 
extent ; and from the interior the produce is carried down to the markets at Cape Coast and 
the neighbouling towns on the sea-side. 
From this great distance the plantains, yams, cassava, and com are carried on the head. 
of women to the markets, with their infants slung across their backs: they carry burdens 
in this way, which it is difficult to conoeive how tlley are able to bear a quarter of the 
distance from which they actually come. The men commit all the d rudgery of labour to 
them ; and to this barbarous practice may be attributed the premature exhaustion, decrepi-
tude, and decay of the women in these countries. There is no circumstance in which the 
character of barbarism is shown so revoltingly as in the treatment of women bere. 
Tbe .oil of Cape Coa t is generally poor and unprofitable on the sea-side; but three or 
four mi les inland it is a stiff clay, fit for every kind of tropical produce. 
Mr. Swansey, one of the principal Dlerchants at Cape Coast, has made an attempt to 
introduce the growth of coffee and cotton, and has expended a great deal of time a nd money 
on the experiment. This eifort, whatever may be the result, is deserving of the highest 
praise. The plantation called Napoleon, is situated in " b ..u tiful part of the country, 
about four miles from Cape Coast. Formerly a garden was made here by Governor Torrane. 
In J 807 he speaks of receiving 4,000 co flee plants for it; and having peas, beans, cabbages, 
and turnips coming forward in great perfection. At his death, however, it appears to have 
been neglected; and when 1\'[1'. Swansey undertook to establish his plantation, the place 
was like tbe surrow1ding jungle. It is unfortunately the lot of all agricultural improvements 
in these countries to die wi th the individual who commenced and carried them on; and 
--p-a-oue-;8;-o-"~ig-.- unfortunately the tendency of the climate is to abridge European life so great, that ere any 
improvements can be said to be fully carried into effect, the individual dies, and hIS 
executors generally find he died embarrassed, and his relatives rarely get sufficient means 
to keep his plantalion in cultivation, and after a feeble effort to keep it up, it is ultimately 
abandoned. It is only about four years since Mr. Swansey began clearing away tbe 
ground more extensively than it ever had been done heretofore. He employs about 100 
negroes in the field, under the direction of Mr. Wilson, a gentleman well qualified, by his 
knowledge of tropical ciirllutes, and the modes of cultivation best suited to them, to insure 
success. [ found on inquiry that the majority of these labourers were slaves hired from 
th eir owners, a.nd the wages paid for them was at the rate of 5s. a month sterling, paid ill 
"romauls" of cotton clot.h, or Is. ad. a wpck, and about one-third of that SUDl for 
child ren, a great many of whom I Raw employed there, apparently well contented and well 
fed. I asked if any difficulty was experienced at filiding voluntsry labour on these terms; 
and I was infonned, "so far from it, that 30 applications for employment within the last 
three weeks had been refused, having no work for them." The negl'oes bere, it is said, can 
support themselves all 2 jd. a day tolerably well; and from 1 ~d. to :1 id. or 3d. a day, 
I was informed was the ordinary rate of wages all along this coast paid to the nali, es 
wheu employed by Europeans. 
The first cotton crop grown here by Mr. Swanscy proved very abundant, but exception 
was taken in the Euglish market to the shortness 01' the staple; it fetched a low price, nud 
proved an unprofitable speculation. The cotton trees arc now growing wild, and the culll.-
"at.ion of them entirely given up. 
The coffee here has been planted from slips brought from Prince's Island about two years 
ago; it looked extremely well, and promised to yield an ample crop in 0. feW months wore. 
So long, however, a. Aerican coffee pays a duty of I s. 3d. per round, while \Vest IndIa is 
introduced at (id., there can be no hope of this cultivation mcreasing to any e)..tent, or 
indeed, of being prosecuted at all in A frica. Perhaps there is no culture so genemlly suitrd 
to the soil of all our setllements on the \"e stern Coast of Africa as tbat or coAee; but the 
heavy duty on its importation into England amounts to an absolute prohibitioll oe , ts O'roll'tb . 
rr this duty \1'"" lowered to that on the West India coflee, Ollr settlements alone in th,," course 
of a rew years might furni sh a qUllntity equal to tllnt or Cnba and Porto Rico; and fro III 
what I have seen orthe Hio Nunez and Prillces coffee, I would say ofa quality far 'uperior, 
and v.ry nearly Ilpproaching to that of Mocca. 
It is Il fo ll y to expect to see cultivation increased to any extent in Africa, whilst 11'0 hut 
out those products lor which her soil is best fitted, and which have been found byexperiel",e 
well adapted to it, at the dis tance of three 01' raUl' miles from the sea-shore. The llumber 
of IIcreR undol' cult"",tion at Napoleon PIllntation i. beb,,"el\ 60 and 70. The number of 
trees planted is a,30:), and 000 bearing. I have seen nothing like this pltll\l.ation, e~ccptllt 
the Portugucse i"lund of Princes, on the whole Western Coast. Neither at the Gal\lbil\ nor 
ilt Sierra Leone al'~ there any truces left of the aborti ve effort made nt cultivatlOn, to g l\TC 
dll idea or a plantation to be compllrcd with this of Mr. Swansey. llaving unfortul\lllcly 
difiored 
SE LECT COMMI'ITEE ON WEST CO AST OF AFRICA: 
-differed ill opinion rather with this gentleman on ·the subj ect of slavery and tbe administra- Appendix, NO. 3. 
tion of j uslice, I am happy to be able to speak In the highest terms of the pubhc spmted-
ness and phIlanthropy of this fi rst effort to lead the natives on ~he Gold Coast, by the GOLD COAST . 
obvions example and prooF of the advantages of, agDlCultural employm!nt, to. the cullivation 
of the soli whi ch has been h.therto entu ely neglected on thiS coast, Fnday IS a day of rest Com missioner's 
wi th the prredial labourers, and Tuesday with the fishermen,; on these days they ~o not Report. 
work, and appear to devote them to idleness , In h~nour of th.ell' respective Fetish dlvlmtLes. 
B ut it is a great mistake to imagine that the nallves of Afnca are too lazy" or too. deeply 
s unk in barbalism to work for wages where wages ar~ offered ~o them . . There l~ no ddficulty 
in findin g labourers in any part of Africa I have been In; the difficulty IS, there IS no employ-
ment for them here, and very l ittle adequate remuneratIOn when they are employed by 
E uropeans. 
The trade of Cape Coast has considerably increased of late years. The cessation of war-
fare between the Ashantee and Fantee natIOns has ca used the paths to be opened frolIl' the 
~ Dterior to the coast· and the merchants of Ashantee now come down from Comassie, the 
capital of Ashantee, 'to Cape Coast and Anamaboe, wi thout let or hindranc~. This journey, 
wbich formerly was considered one of great pel'll and difficulty, IS now easIly IJerformed III 
()O bours' travelling, by hammocks earned on mcn's he~ds, or slung across their sho~lders. ---...".~~ 
The distance is about 170 miles, and the rate of travelhng rather more than three mIles an page 9 orig. 
110m. The distances between the different forts and the large districts adjoining tbem, and 
the time of travell ing from one place to another, will be found l'articularized in the table 
No. , drawn up for me by Mr. Cruikshank, of Anamaboe; but It may be well to gIVe here 
;n general terms the distances of the following places : 
From Cape Coast to Accra 75 miles. 
From to D ixcove 6 0 
From to Anamaboe 11 
From to E lmina 9 
F rom to Comassie 160 
F rom to Sierra Leone - - 1,100 
All our settlements on the Gold Coast are badly situated, both for trade and healtb. There 
is no harbour on any part of tbe Gold Coast, except at Dixcove, where vessels of 20 or 30 
tons' burthen may enter. Cape Coast, like' Anamaboe and Accra, is an open roadstead ; the 
landing at these places is difficult and dangerous, especial! y at Accra. The surf on the 
beach is at all times considerable, but at particular seasons it is so beavy tbat for periods 
of two or three weeks all communication is cut off between the ships and the shore. , 
In the year !.840, 39 British vessels arri ved at Cape Coast, and nine vessels of war. 
During the last nine or 1 0 years, We t rade has gone on steadily mcreasing. In the year ------~. 
1831, tbe imports into Cape Coast were 130,8511. 3 s. 11 ~ d. , and in 1840 they amounted ------
to 423,170 I. The same steady increase is to be noted in the exports. Tbese from Cape 
Coast Castle in 1831 amounted to 90,2821. 9s 6 d., and in 1 840 tbey had increased to 
325,008 l. In the tbree years preceding the aboli tion of tbe slave trade, tbe exports from . 
t be whole of the W estern Coast of Afri ca to England averaged only 220,725 I. a year, ~nd 8. 
",xclusive of gold; and in the three years succeeding 1807, they had increased to 431,269 I. -..........:... 
while the imports into Africa from England for the former period averaged 1,278,114 I. 
sterling, and for th e latter period only 8 30,325 1. a year. This falling· off is easily accounted 
for by tbe abolition of the slave trade, which constituted the greatest part of our commerce 
with Aflica at tbat period. In 1 816, tbe exports from the coast of Africa into England 
amounted only to 127,320 I. 10 s. 3 d., and the imports from England into Africa of British 
and foreign produce 158,5591. lO s . 3d. In 1836 tbe latter had increased to 620,000.1; and 
of this amount, tbose to Cape Coast and Accra amounted to 75,000 I. while the exports 
from Africa into England for tbat year were in round numbers 8 00,000 l. and of these 
160,000 l. were from the Gold Coast ; and, as has been stated above, in the year 1840 they 
amounted to 325,000 I. fro m Cape Coast alone. Tbe (Iescription of goods imported into 
the British settlements on the Gold Coast are the following: Mallchester goods, " uns, 
powder, lead, and iron bars, flints, rum, pipes, tobacco, beads, cowries, brass-wire, eartilern-~. . 
ware, soap, tallow, g lass-ware, wines, provisions, and perfumery. ______ 
'The commodities we received from our settlements on this coast are gold dust, ivory, 
dye-woods, palm-oil, and. ground nuts: beg inning to be largely exported, Guinea grains, 
and other minor articles of trade. 
I t is impossible to get any certain information ~f the quantity of gold dU5t exported from 
the Gold Coast, as it is not entered at the oustom-house when sent home by vessels of war . 
In 1817 the Committee on African Forts, on Mr. Swansey's autbority, estimated tbe 
am?unt at 10~,OOO o~nces a y ear ; I believe it has very considerably decreased since that 
penod. At SICrra Leone and the Gambia, there is very little gold exported, tbe greatest 
part of what comes to England is from Cape Coast and Accra. For fi ve years previously 
to June 1634, the exports of gold fr:om Cape Ooast averaged 18,2~6 ounces a year, and 
now, probably, from all our settlements on the Western Coast of Afnca, not above 25,0 00 
()unces are exported, or to the value of about 85)000 l. a year. 
To give some idea of the relative commercial advantages of our different settlements at 
55 !. c 4 Cape 
A PPENDIX TO RE PORT FR OM THE 
Appendx, No. 3. 
Cape COQ&t, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia, I have drawn up the following table of the total 
GOLD COAST. exports and imports for the year 1839 :--
Commissioner's £ xports from. Imports into. 
Report. £ . 
-pagetO £. oNg. Cape Coast - 194,676 354,460 
~ierra Leone 58,440 103,086 
Gambia 102.789 153,903 
£. 416,805 611,449 
In the above table the total exports and imports are given, but of this a large portion is 
to and from foreign countries; for instance, the exports from S,erra Leone to Great Britain 
amounted only to 49,7821., and the imports frolll England to S,erra Leone to 100,9931. 
The exports from the Gambia to Great Britain amounted only tbat year to 70,809i. and 
the imports from Great Britain to 67,474 i., so that more thau one-half of the trade of tbe 
Gambia is with foreign states. . . 
I was not able to ohtain any return of the amollnt of trade wIth foreIgn states at Cape 
Coast, but I sbould think tIVo-t llirds of the imports and exports are to and from Great 
Britain. The imports into Cape Coast amounted, in 1840, to 423,170 I., and the exports 
to 325,0081. 
The decl'ease in tbe value of cotton gooas in the markets on the Gold Coast has consi-
derably affected the profit, of the merchants there. They are still , ho wever, probably 
g reater thau they are in any other part of the world. I do not believe the people of any 
other country pay so dearly for our manufactures as the people.of Africa. The deere. .. 
in the va lue, especially of cotton goods,-may be estimated by the alteration in the value of 
tbe same goods a few years ,!!:o issued to the black soldiers at the rate of 25 s., and which 
now are worth in the market, accordtng to l\Ir. ,Maclean, only 10 s. The same gentleman 
attributes tl1c diminution of the merchants' profits here to the increased number of compe-
titors since 1817. The number of residentmerchanls has doubled since that period. 
The invoice value of 100 dollars is estimated by Captain ~Jnc1eau to be about 13 1. or 
141. sterling, exclusive of charges. This estimate call only apply to cerlain l\rl anchester 
goods, in which trade there is a great competition, but to my own knowledge, the common 
muskets which are purchased for the trade in England at lOs. a piece. are sold to the 
natives along tbe coast for five and six dollars; and where I have seen iron bars, spirits, 
and gunpowder. bartered for rice and other provisions, the calculation I lunde on the spot 
was, that the profit charge on these articles could not fall much short of 150 per cent. 
The British merchants on the Gold Coast campi aiD. very much, and it seems to me \\"ith 
a great deal of reason, of the injury done to British commerce bl" foreign Yessels, and by 
transient traders who visit these places, and are enabled to underse I the resident merchants 
who have expensive establishments to support, and who ha,'e an interest in upholding tbe 
government of tbe place where they carry on the~r trade. In the month of October IB40, 
the merchants of Cape Coast addl'essed a memOrial to the Go,'ernor, to be forwa.rded to the. 
London committee 011 this subject. In that document, they state that" duty of half per 
cent. upou the ilwoice amount of such goods as may be lanJed, without any distinction of 
Bag, is the only impost upon the comme.rce of tbe place; that foreigners ha\"c consequenlly 
imported large quantities of merchandize at a lower rate than the merchauts can do from 
England J so thai, in point of fact, they ,)re to some exLem excluded froUl their owtl markets. 
Of the foreign vessels, American, Hamburgh, and French} are those which chitfty frequent 
OU t· sett lements, and carryon a retail trade with the natives. 
The r~medies wbich the merchants suggest, and which I think ought to be applied to 
this evi l, is the revival of the foreig n and transient duties which were once in force here, all a 
reduced scale, say five per cent., III addition to the half per cent. now levied on the im~oicc 
amount of all goods landed from foreign vessels; and a transiellt duty of 2 l per cent. in 
addition to the l,alf per cent. now levied on the invoice amount of all goods lanaed by per-
sons who are not residents of the colony, 01' who are not possessed of lands or houses in 
it. The Act ooly came into operation on the 2zd of April last, authorizing the levylllg of 
an ad valorem duty of 10 s. per cent. on all goods and merchandize landed at the several 
forts; no returns have yet been made of the receipt of these duties; the produce of them 
is solely applicable to the maintenance of a militia at each of these statioos . 
• • • • • • 
ANAMABOE 
I s about 11 miles from Cape Coast, and from its situation is better adapted for tr.de with 
page 11 orig. A. hante. than Cape Coast, being only 66 hours' joul'l1ey by hammock from Com!l:'sic. 
The fort is a sman squa~ bui ld ing, more stron!!:ly and regularly constructed than allY other 
B ri tish fort on the coast. There nrc five or six mCl'cnntile houses here, sOU'W of them. Clltl-
ductt.:.d by agents who arc persons of colour} and othel's belonging to Illltl,fC merchants. 
\Vlwil 1 vtsIted Anal1lltboc t.h.ere wel'a five merchnnt ,'c~hels lymg in the road~t.co.J, aud at 
the liame period only two nt Cupe Coust. ThIS place is beginning to t.nk~ aw,l)' a gl'ent 
deal of the truda f"om Cape COI18L', alld, pl·ob.bly, in a filii year. WIll monopolise the 
great 
SRLECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. '7 
I area tel' part of it. Tbe population of tbe town is about 4,500. The te1'l'itory on which the Appendix, NO.3. 
lort is built was purcbased /i'om the Fantee nation: the ground it stands on is all the soil 
we own here. It wi ll be seen, however, by the answers to certam quenes put by me to the GOLD COAST. 
commandant of the fort, that autholHy is exercised it over the whole of the Fantee country, 
a territory of ahout 24 miles square. .. Commissioner's 
The fOlt is kept in good repalr. The garrISon 15 supported by the half per cent. duty on Report. 
goods imported. The mortality amongst them has been one man outof 17 dur.ing the last 
five years. The commandant receIves no pay. The soldIers are paId as those at Cape 
Coast. Tbere is a Wesleyan Missionary cba pel and a scbool here, but neither of them in a 
very fl ourishing condition . 
The commandant, lVIr. Cruikshank, is the only magistrate in the place; his jurisdiction , 
· is similar to that of the maR"istrates at Cape Coast. The gaol is in one of the ground-floor 
apartments of th e fort, in b~d eondition, and incapable of any classification of prisoners. 
- The power of confining pel'son~ for uulimited periods, ~hether for crime or debt, exists here 
as it does at Cape Coast; but I cannot at all agree wIth the commandant as he has given 
his opinion on this subject in his answers to my quertes, tbat the practice ought to be 
suffered to continue on-account of any assnmed regard for the well-being of the incarcerated 
persons. 
The imports into Anamaboe amounted, in 1840, to 50,000 I.; the exports 60,000 I.; and 
the trade here, as well as at all our settlements on the coast, is chiefly carried on in London 
and Bristol ships. The climate is the same as that of Cape Coast. The locality of the 
fort bas been greatly improved oflate years, by fill ing up a pond of stagnant water which 
was contiguous to bqe fort. The rains set in here and at Cape Coast in the month of May, 
and continue for about four months, and these months are the most sickly in the year. The 
highest land in this district is aln>'Ut 2Qo-feet above the level of the sea; and the ~reatest 
variation in the temperature between the months of January and July, and between day and 
night in the latter month, is about 10 or 12 degrees. 
AqCRA 
LIES abo llt 75 miles to the eastward of Cape Coast ; the landing at this place is bad; the 
beach is rocky, and the surf that breaks over it renders it dangerous e~en ~or the canoes 
of the natives, when the sea breeze sets in with any violence. The Ashantee traders fre-
quent this place, and carryon a considerable trade, both at the British and Danish setHe-
ments. The ill!ports into British Accra, in 1840, amounted to from 65,000 I. to 70,000 I., 
and from 12,000 I. to 15,000 I. from America. The exports from British Accra, in 1840, 
amounted to from 85,000 I. to 95,000 I. to Europe, and from 15,000 I. to 20,000 I. to the 
United States. The palm-oil trade is rapidly increasing here, but the Danes have mono-
polized it to a great extent, and one of their pri ncipal merchants at Christiansburg informed 
me that five or six vessels were loaded chiefly with it last year, at. the Danish settlement. 
The government is administered by the commandant of the fort, Mr. Topp, and he receive. 
·a salary of 100 I. a year from the government at Cape Coast Castle. The cost of the 
maintenance of the establishment is 500 l. a year, the fort is in good repair, and the whole 
management of the place is very creditable to the commandant. There is no place of 
worship yet here, but tbe W esleyan missionaries have formed an establishment, whicb is 
yet in its infancy, and have commenced building a church. Service is read in the fort on 
the Sabbatb, and a school is likewise established here, in which 40 or 50 children recei« 
instruction. There are six European merchants, three or four of whom are in the commis-
sion of the peace. The native popUlation amounts to about 4,000. I found very few 
prisoners in the gaol, and in all cases of felony, I was informed, were referred to the autho- page 12 orig. 
rities at Cape Coast . 'rhe country is more open here than at any of our other settlements, 
and has the reputation of being more healthy. So far as the openness of country, and the 
absence of jungle and swamps in its immediate vicinity go, it certainly ought to be more 
healthy. Nevertheless fever and dysentery prevail there in tbe wet season, and several 
fata l cases among the crews and officers of our squadron have occurred here. Still for 
those who are settled on shore, I would expect a ~eater chance of preserving health than 
at any other of 0111' settlements on this coast. ' 'Vith tbe exception of the island of St. 
Th omas, which unfortunately does not belong to us, there is no place on the coast to the 
northward of the Line which seems to me better adapted for the location of the emancipated 
negToes, and certainly no place which, from its proximity to the Bights of Benin and 
Biafra, and the great slave-trading establishments in their neighbourhood, is better fitted for 
the establishment of our mixed conlDllssion courts. 
The great distance of Sierra Leone from the cruizing stations here, from 1,200 to 1,500 
miles ; the necessity of taking cruizers with stave prize vessels for so long a period as this 
voyage occu-pies, fi'om the l,ivers which they are blockadin~ a period on an average little 
short of 54 days g'oing and returning, and remaining at bierra Leone, and the increased 
hardships which the slaves have to endure, and the- great mortality consequent upon it; 
these are circuUlstances which would lead me to think that Accra would have beert a much 
lnore desirable place than Sierra Leone for the establishment of che mixed C0urts and the 
location of the emancipated negroes . The British cruisers are in the habit of visiting Accra 
more frequently than any other of our settlements, on account of the abundance of vege-
tables ancl of stock which they are always able to procure here. There are several excellent 
stone houses, one of which has been lately purchased for the establishment of the Wesleyan 
mis s-ionaries. 
551. D Thirly 
18 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
App ••d l~, NO.3. Thirty-four British and thirty-one foreign veosels vi.ite(i British Accra last year. The 
s~11 on the coast IS light and sandy, but a few miles mland It IS excellent, thougb there is 
GOLD COAST. little cultll'allon, except of vegetables. The Danes have estabhshed a coffee plantation 
which is said to produce excellent coffee. ' 
Commissioner's The only difficulty in findin~ labourers for any specie.. of prrodial employment, is tbe 
Report. ordinary rate of wages, which IS only 5 s. currency a month, and whicb is a very inadequate 
remuneration of a man's labollr. The gold dust which i. brought down from the ruterlor 
is obtained from the alluvial sands and soil , and i. waolled down from the mountains, com-
posed of granite, gneiss, ond quarlz. At Cape Coast even the sweepings of tbe streets are 
Impregnated with gold. These are gathered up . and subjected ~o repeated wasbings, and 
the ovel'o"e sum that" whole day's loboul' at thiS employment w,ll brmg a womau will not 
exceed 2~. or s:a. a day. Accra is divided into British, Dutch, and Dani.h Accra; tbe 
Dutch fort and settlement are of less importance tban the Damsh; the fort of the latter, 
called Christiansburg, i. on a large scale. It has about 60 or 90 gullS mounted, and Wllll 
undergoing reparation when I viSited it. 
• • •• •• 
If our settlements on the Gold Coast are to be kept up, their trade to he extended, and 
our efforts persevered in for impeding the slave trade on this coast, 1 would venture <trongly 
to recommend the erection of three or four hlock hou es or small forts in addition' 
one at Winnebah, where the English fort was de;troyed some years ago by orders of 
Government, and which the natives are now very deSirOUS to he permitted to rebuild, even 
at their own expense, for us, so sensibly do they feel the 10 s of British trade. 
One likewise at Apollonia, wllicb is sti ll considered a place of SO!Ile importance for its 
trade. 
One at Whydab, of greater size a.nd strength, wbere the ruin still remain of the English 
fort. 
And one in the river Bonny, where we have no settlement of any kind, and no commercial 
or consular agent, and yet carryon a trade of greater importance than at any place on the 
const. 
On thesc block houses a sing le gun would be sufilcient for their protection, aDd au outlay 
of 400 I. or 500 I. each would be sufficient ror lhe er.ctionof lhe smaller ones; a senreant 
and five mell would he adequale to tbeir maintenance, and in all probability wherever they 
eXlsled tbe stores and residences of traders would soon be established in their -ricinity. In 
the views expressed on this subject in tlle letter subjoined addressed to me by the comman-
dant of the fort at Accra, I entirely concur . By the meaus I have pointed out, we would 
page 13 orig. have a chain of communication kept up at a small expense from the Gold Coast to the 
Bonny, which would do more to impede the slave trade, and as uredly ultimately to pot it 
down, than the constant employment of our squadron in enforcing a very dIfficult blockade 
along so vast an e..'"<tent of coast. 
DL COVE. 
Tile terri lory on which this fort stands wns obtained from the Ahanta nation ill la~o. 
The commandanl, Mr. Frank Swan,ey, chiefly at his own expense, has kepi up this fort 
in a nUUl.Of r, I am informed, "cry cred itable to himself a.nd to the character of hi~llo.tJou . 
. _c vcrc illness prevented mc from visiting Dixcove: for the information respecting the fort 
and ... Wemeut, I alll chiefly u,dcbted to Mr. Swallscy. The extent of this disl.rict is abollt 
·10 milos along the ""a-co"'"t, aod extc.llds about 30 ill tbe iDle,~or. The British settlement 
d.t DixcO\'c is considered to extend about five mHes along the sea-coa..~t, and 20 in the': mw-
,.ior ; the porl is available for small vessels of 20 tons, and the landulg bere better ,hau at 
Cape CO.bt or Accra. There is no church or plnee of worship bere except at the fort, 
where the gen·icc is read by the commandant. There is one ~chool here for bays , t.hat ''"OS 
cslahh,lied about" ycar ago, and ably suporintendc-d by on Altlerican mis.sionar)", ,,11<, has 
'lIIe, kr, the ••W cment. Tbe only mo.gistrate " tlle commalldantof the forl. To .\[r. 
wnnscy'b honour It. may be nddcd, that in the cxcrciAe of l1l1'\ magistcnal function', Ill' Ul'n~r 
found It Ilc('cbsary to impnson n per_ _ on for more than a few months. The price of wa~s 
ht'rc is S ' . currency n month, paid III three or four fo.thotU~ of cloDl to that 8.mount. '1'lle 
soil of the Ahantn couDtry I:" t?cnernlly colltoiidcred more fertil~ t.hnn the Oother OdjtllUHl Jlo;-
tnctt-, The fort has been tWICe. nUacked by the nnt"res 11\ mg in the Dutch sdtl yl ul.!, 
wltlllll the lru.t ao yenrs, nod ",('re on both occasIons repelled; the AllantN!' nation Ui tl-
muted Ilt ao,ooo or 3.>,000 l"{/ul~, and the Fnntccs at 50,000, Tbere i nO rcgul r account 
k('pt of Ihe itnport~ und cxp()rt~ nt DIX(.'OVC, but i\lr. wuu:-;.ev cstilUot('S, the former Ilt frolu 
20,000 I, to ;)0,000 I, ; and in the iru;t COl' :)0 Dntish \'c:o.seis anchored in. the ro:ld::.lc..' ul 
,uld "-OuU' foreign tmdt:"" 
Tit,· .dlool. nnd mis,iona on the Gold COMt hnve !llerell'cd I;u-:::ely within tho l.,! h,e 
\'l':n : llwr<: nre cie'ht Jl\i~~ioutlr&c~ di~l ribut~c..l o\'~r the vn.riou~ dilltricL, of litt' "·t: ... l '\nn 
\fdhooiKt dl'nolUin:ttlOn, IHO t of ,,,hum 1 IH1H' lIlt:'t " ith, (lOU Din glnd to h~ 'Iblc to bt.'ar 
111)' t( timon) to the dc..·\loh:dnl'''I1' unr! 6c1t:'lily ttl lbp cau:-.c ~)V'y an' Cfllf-'t; din, nud to the 
IntC'I'Cti oj humaliity III gt'nt'ml which ure manlll'!'okd in lhllif hve.;. ond \\Ction~. 
I hu\'(.· tot'j'n n ~ood u('(li (If them, nnd r canl'\ot Withhold my opinil1o of the uobh~ and dl~­
nllTl' t('(1 motl\nl I." \\hich tlat \" ~Ire n<.'tlluL,d. TlwiT .... \('rtion~ l"therto muy not h:.\\. bet'li 
.. tll',"lcd \\'Ilh an) ~i:!l1ul ~Ul~~', on lh ~ \, e£.h.'ru Co:,~t of Africa" bUl the fault hl'~ not 
nlth them, The ngt::I of Lnrunflt III which lhi~ ('ountry has been m\"oh 'u, lUH.l th,.. ~ong .. 
COIIIUlUCd 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFR1CA. 
continued influence of the slave trade iniquity, have sown seeds over the whole land of evils Appendix, NO. 3. 
whioh are not to be uprooted of a sudden, or by the singI ~ action of missionary enterprise. 
P eace and co nfi dence in one and other amongst the natIves must precede the efforts of GOLD COAST. 
c ivilization, and give fair .scope fo~ the efforts of industry, ,an~ t~e exertions of missionary 
labour, to proceed band 1D hand m the great work of terntonallmprovement and hu~an Commissioner's 
regeneration . The number of places of worshIp established, or III process of estabhslung, Report. 
amount to seven ; the one at Cape Coast, though constructed ?f the (~s\yish" or mud that 
is used in buildinas of the natives, is a very excellent and capacIOus buildmg, and the num-
ber of professing Christians 650. The seven chapels were erected at an expense of 1,500 I. 
sterlinO" · schools have likewise been estabhsbed at Cape Coast, Anamaboe, Accra, vVmebah, 
Comr:e~da D omassee and Ahassa. The annual cost of the several missions, and employ. . 
ment of mi;sionary ag~Bts on this coast, is about 1,5001. sterling. The h~ad o~ the ~is­
sionary establi shment is a gentleman of colo~r, the R ev. J. Freeman; .the dIscretion whIch 
he has evinced in the discharO"e of his dubes at Cape Coast, and bls perseverance and 
patience in his manao-ement with the natives who are employed in the construction of the 
chapels and school-h~uses, are remarkable and well deservmg of commenilation. One oHhe 
natives, who has been to E nO"land is now employed as a preacher ; he addresses the nabves 
in theiT own language, and t~ me 'it appeared with infinitely more effect than if they had 
been spoken to in English. The home missionaries wo~ld do well to em!?loy as many n~tlVes page 14 orig. 
as they can procure the services of, who are men of mtelhgence , and m'fluenced by hlgher 
motives than those of gain, in taking on them the obligations of a missionary preacher or 
teacher. A missionary establishment is about to be formed in Comassie, t he eapital of 
Ashantee, under tlle superintendence of M r. Freeman, and one at M ansue, about 50 miles 
in the interior, on the road to Comassie. In all these districts there are nine scbools, and 
about 300 cbildren, and three " f th1l'3e schools are for female children. I n all tbe queries 
I have put to the clergy and others interested in tbe management of the schools, the answers 
I have received as to tbe capacity of the negro children being in any respect inferior to that 
of the white children, are invariably to the effect, that there is no disparity or inferiority 
whatsoever. Tbe schools are established on the Bnbsh and ForeIgn System, but I am by 
DO means convincecl that the'kind of instruction given is tbe best that might be desired, or 
such as is well calculated to enlarge the intellect of the children, or to teach them light 
habits of thought and action, instead of names and words learned by rote, which leave no 
lasting impressions on the mind. 
There is too much time employed in the school in the mere exercise of mem orv, too 
much of a mere teaching of words, and a neglect of the knowledge of tbings, and too 
little employment of the fac ulty of tbinking, and of instruction in habits of industry. In 
the boys' school, which is kept in the castle at Cape Coast, thougb not under the super-
mtendence of the miSSIonarles, I observed the same defects In the system of instruction. I 
examined tbe children there, and after I bad heard the biggest boy in the fi rst class read 
very tolerably out of the Script ures, and answer every question by rote put to bim out of 
the catechism, I asked bim if he understood the meaning of the word slavery? He said, 
it was keeping a man a servant all his life. I asked him if it was a good tl,inO" «> keep a 
man slaving all his life ? He said, it was a good thing. I asked him if it was a g ood tbing 
to buy and sell men as slaves? H e said, yes, he thought it was. This poor boy had been 
taugbt to read and wn te well, but not to think; and I regret to state that this defect in the 
system of teaching exists in most of tbe schools I visited 011 the Gold Coast, at Sierra 
Leone, and the Gambia. 
The fault does not lie with the missionaries, but wiih the system, and the difficulty of 
finding fit and proper masters to instruct the cbildren. I am far from thinkin!\ that reli-
gious instruction should be omitted in tbese scbools : the obj ections I state apply to the 
exclusive and limited nature of the knowledge which is imparted in tbese schools. Nor-
mal schools should be established at home for the training of well-conducted and respect-
able young men of COIOUT, for the offi ce of schoolmasters; t1le salari.es allowed even in 
Sierra Leone are entirely insufficient to secure fi t and proper persons for instruction. H er 
M-ajestls Commissioner, Mr. Lewis) at Sierra Leone, informed me that a very decent mall 
of .colour had called on him to consult bim about removing his wife, who was also de-
scnbed as a respectable person, from the sebool at wbich she was the chief instructress, 
where her salary was only -, s. a month, or 1 s. 9 d. a week. And tbe head master of the 
sebool at Dublin Town receives only 30 s. a month for bis salary, or 7 s. 6 d. a week. To 
remedy the defects in the present schools on the Western Goast of Africa, I would suo·O"est 
the establishment of a Normal school at home for the exclusive training and i nstructi~~ of 
scboolmasters, natives themselves of Africa, who should be destined for those "chools. 
The establishment of a model-farul at each settlement where a school exists, and in the 
t owns, to afford the masters tbe facilities of having every child taught some trade or ca1l-
mg, at the same time tbat he is sent to school to read and write. All tbe instruction that 
can be given them without .teaching uhem habits of industry is of little value; and i t cer-
tamly IS lamentable to find that where the other kind of instruction has been long received, 
1n a great many cases the industrious habits are too little known or practised in our settle~ 
ments. 
55' · D 2 
20 AP PEN DI X TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix , No. J. EUII NA, 
GOLD CUAST. '1' 11 1 lorg, . t o"d 1lI0bt impOI tn"t of the Dulc h for ts anu .ettlements on the Gold COlllt, 
iR I1I I1C " ""• • to the w".(wald or Cape Cuast. The tOlln I. con. ,derahle, nnd the trade witb 
Cnmml!1I10nc.r'. AHhont('e o r HOllle IInportance. 
nt·pOrt. • • • • • 
The s uhi eet of hen lth nne climate ,,11 11,. conRid . red in conjunction with those at Sierra 
I."ono nlld 'the Gambin. T he points to which I lUll'. "ndenvoured to roll .t~ntion, aneltl,,· 
nltemti"". ! would I'cnture to . uggc. t in the present "ystem or government Oil the Gold 
CUOMt, 11m Lho following ;.-
l . t . The tran, for o f the power nild auth ority over th e selliemellts 0 1' the G old CO""t , nolV 
\'cH tl·d in the (,OIllIJl ltt c of' London mCI'C h nll l~, into the hands of Government j and in rt! · 
cuulIl\ t;l lId ing !111M fi iCP, "0 for 1114 thc~w gentlemen at hOIl'lc arc concerned, I beg 1I0t to he 
Ultc! /'nduod Il ~ cnlling Llw;r proc'c(H,hng:rl 111 (IUCHtioll, or doubti llg t.h r:ir d t'!~ife to hun" th/ ~ 
b",vc"nnw(\t properl y ndlOinlbwl'cd, but a. doubtful or their power to do so. 
2d .. The llppoinllllont of 0 OOI'o,.,1Or br. the Crown for Cape CO" -t Castl e, to u,· uncon-
nucwtl \\ltll the trade, ot IL ~m l n l'y of 600 . pel' nnnum. 
Of n (,.' h ij·rjt1~l i ct~, nt 000 t. per 'Il nllllnl. 
Or n QUl!cu't\ nd"ocalt: , nl 100/. per a nnum. 
The chh' f' j U'dicc to vitiil the ot her il·ttlcnlcnls t wice a yt!n r. 
ad. Tile pay of lhe Ro luier., to be r" c" llt 12 •. 0 d. a month for each privat'·; the 
mihl'" to b" dIspensed with, ond th" number of e,tabh. hed troop. to be illcro.··,d III pro-
portlun to the Ilu mber of mil it in men cl lliPl'J1scd wi th. 
Hh. '1'1", pny uf the .ol,her , a lld the slllorleb of nil officers to 00 paId in money and not 
III ~OOcJR. 
oth. To obviate ony doubt of the strict mco ning or the Act of A boli tion of 18 3.1, 3nd the 
COIlRolidHtcd Slu\'c'1'l1\cl(' Act of ~ H'2 i , uy the ellElctlllPnl of a. new law to pr~vent Urill lih suu· 
J(;'ci'i III any HclLlL'I1I(,lIt~ Ilbr(md, Bnligh 01' furt."g-n, from holding, hiring, buyillg , or selling 
liln\l('''', 01' pnwnR; ~rom sum':l'ing; VCIiHcltl ('(Illipped for the ~ln\'c t rude fo nnchol' , in these 
pn.rt.."i, lo IJl' Kupphcu with PI'LlVIMiollH or ml:l'clmnui1.c; from sclling' good~ a t rOr('l~ n tJlavc-
Lrncle fncto ricH to notorious ~In\'c dcn l('rs i from owning, iOKurin~, or charterincy "cs~eLs 
cUlploYi'd in thi~ irnde, or I he conveyance Lo the sln.,'c-tracle factones of the conl'lt. of the 
~ton'H IIlId rncrcimndi7.c ('I'Oscnilll l tu it j from forming companies, or holding ~IHlrcb in COUl-
lUll1 icH who!ic profit 11"1 ucrivNl in foreign C0ulltrics, or in any DritiRb s~ttlcn~enLi, from the 
cmplopncui of ::iluycs; from lending n1ont:y on intcrcbt, or discountmg bills of PN!'OOruJ 
notonoulily l'll~ogcd 111 toIlu.vc trntling; from dcl i, cnnp: up tilllvCS who have ffLkcn rcfugc In 
]lnti~h IJ('UlcllIcn l, on nlly prctc\t o r ('rime j from suRonng torei~ner~ In D ritl h Aettlements 
tu huld I'tlll,t!~ withuut bringin~ the ol1~'ndl'rA to jUiilicc, or informing the Shl\l;S uy public 
prorlulllllllOII of tll t·ir bt:lng ullJuslly held 11\ bonds. 
mh . To infurm lhe no..tIY('."', 011 thl! Gold CouHl of the precise c:\tent of our juri.-(hrlIOn and 
t Ilt' 11I1l 11~ of our tcrritorutl rlglath and clonus, and to allow no ln.w repugnant Lo Eugh:;h 
luw to Lu' in furt't' in ou r ~ctlll'mtll1ts, unci no practice cont1'1lry to it to be carr;(.'d on. 
71 h. Tu rl'~o('oU I )Y' nlld in sOllie illNillncl'8 Lo rt'collt'>truct, the abandoned forts 01' LJlock-
hOll ('8 nt \ Vi lll'!)" 1, ' Vhydnh, Apolluniu, lind to l'sta.hlil'th one Ilt the riv(.'r Bonny, 
oth. To t'nlnrg~ lhe gnol so 1\1-\ Lo ndmit or till' c l tl8~incO l ion of prisoners. 
olh. T o "sta bl i.h a nonnu l .ehoo l in F.nglnnd for the instruction of nnli.eo d«tined 10 
b('(,:ul1Il' lI1u,dt'I'S of colonia l tichoolH. 
] 011L To fl'O\' ldo l\ colonilll Achooll(.·r fill' the R,cnr~co of the locul go\'cmmcnt, a.mI the 
pn'\ll'ntlon (:) ,,In'l \ [mci lng III tht, lw ighbollrll ig dlHtrlChl. 
II th, Tu impoiw 1\ duty of five pt.'r cent. 0 11 ull import.! in fon·ign vC!lRel ~ at our Fettle-
D\(.'llt nn tlu' Guld COR~L 
1 htl\"(, uggt·)o;u.J. tht' enilClmt'n( of n IW '\ law for the pn'vention of slon'ry und the I{\\'t.~ 
tnlth', tnl III!' purpo~e t'''''pt'cinll' of r.'moyin!! l'\"<"I")' pr~te\t for the forml'r, Whh.'h I~\!'y l.)(' 
I1I1,d.· (.III tIlt.' glOund .... of HII)' 0 our J4t.'tllt.'lIlcnt~ being lett unno.H"lCd in the EI1lOlu'lpnti~Ul 
At'l, fntale· n~ Ihot p,t.'ln:l IlIUl-l Ill' \dWll the pnrttculnr pluC'cs which (In:' ~:xl·mph'd. ti'Olll at 
OP"llltaon nrt'pt'("mlly Illlllll'tl 111 t.he Arl ; und nil otlwr ('010111('8. R.nl l ~ctltcm('nb in O«:1t 
I1 n l ll lll , " lu·the'r pllrti('ulurizcd ur not, 111U t be of coun~c !o. Il LJcdt~d to lis ~cl1cnl l ouhgI\.U~\I'8. 
1'1)1' 1'1"",('nt Ad, IlO duuiJt, IN ,.;,umci~·nt III It (~uurt vI" Itm lo putliRb the o ll ~·Ilt.·(' of !'Oianl' hold .. 
1IlJ;:;, l'tII1lIlHlh·t1 III HIl) pnrt of tht" Il nlltlh dUIliIUIOI14'\, "Uvo I ndia and "l')' lon, Ilml ~t. IllJh ' l1Il j 
Lut to IH'I'H'nl fh,· l'OIHllJl,.Klon of t lt t· cnlllt' In diMt lLUt l\l'ttlcl\wnh h)" U1OI"(' pnrllculnrly pc· 
<'l lyUll 11tt' nul urt' nnt.i l'on"':ql1('IH,'l'M ufll, by \'In'ilrllluri7.lnp; t.'v('11 til l." IOl'ill mmlt.'~ l)f ~l{\n'ry 
IUld 1I ll' d""'I '!\utUlH of Ihl \ 1t.'tiIiIlO, \\ Iwthe-r Ill' d iu bomlnge under the name () f ·r dc.·btR," or 
II PNlllUlll'lIt "f 1 \ '1111 1101," or " pnwn. .. " 1 ',\'uu ld n'{'UUlIll t.' llll t lw ('nnctlU('nl of 1\ nl ' \\ I" " , !)f'u-
\I(lall~ fur Il1 u,.(\ ('lIl.;e ,dll('h I h £lvI' d dt\ll t',1 III No. h uf the IU!lt of !'\l\t.:g(,!'\ tion for til t' wt· 
t (' 1 1!11\t'llIllll'nt ofoH I ~c'Ult\nwllt o n the (:ulll ( 'AmMf , ThiK J\ rt honhl I )~ t'rt.rd I' much 
n pu,. Ihh' lIolll tilt' .Illr~\1 1I or the 11I\\ , 11""( 11 \1 II rc.·d ulldunt t.' xpll'ti n ·. 111111 t l 'Chlll(" tI \ l' l'hHI~I.·, 
IJI'urllI1! III !llInd Ilmt It. ohJ t\('t ilC nu t toO mll l' h for it lwinf! Ill' ll·d on h~ I" " \('r t .l!'\ f~)r tlw 
pUJ I"' t' of .. n\ln~ Ii,r I.hf' il1 formutaon ulld L;,l1Idul\{ o of pl'oph~ not h 'illlWtl HI till' lu\\", nn<i 
fU I llif' IlIt· ' t'nllul1 ofllit'lr IIIflat't lllu (dlt. 
It I '1·1\· fnll' 1111' Con""(lhdutnl SII\i' Luw, lht· 6lh uf (ho. I, cOmprt·hl'IH.l" (," ' ry c:\ C 
of uH11U~' '''lId ubllllul; 1111' 1'1111'1' tnul,', 111U1 I lut \ !.! I'rupoM'd to h l\\t' l!ihll III H' l~lInn llv 
l!H1 pi l"11i1'~t1I)' plOlllhlll'd; IInti thl'le.' l:,\1\ 1.)(' no (I'le.' lion thut uny IIl fmd,WIl of t lu 111\\. 
"ht.· th t· r 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 21 
-whe~h~r by insuring slave p:operty, ,selling goods ,for slave-trading obj~cts, lending ,money, Appendix , NO.3. 
or giVing any species of assistance tor the promotIOn of these objects m any court III Eng-
land, where the case would be t ried on its propel' merits, and not decided on by a jury im- GOLD COAST. 
plicated 01' involved in the interests of slavery, that the offender would be c0nvicted of the 
felony and punished. But few of those employed in judicial situations on the Westet'" Commissioner's 
Coast of Africa have been persons belonging to the legal professions, and those who did Revort. 
belong to it, and were the advisers of our goveplOrs, have not been persons of very profound 
experience in the law, and the consequence has been that, with few exceptions, our autho1'i- ~ 
ties on the Western Coast of Africa bold the opin ion that was entertained at Cape Coast as 
to the legality of aiding and abetting the slave dealers, of supplying the"! with the goods and 
stores essential to thc purchase of the slaves . The Consolidated lave rrade Act, of 1824, 
dlstmctly states in the very secan? c~ause. that l~ IS unlawful" In any manner to engage, or 
to contract to engage, directly or mdIrectly therem (the slave trade), as a partner, agent, or 
otherwise, or to ship, tranship, lade, receive, or put on hoard; or to contract for t he shipping, 
transhipping, lading, or receiving, or putting on board of any ship, vessel, or boat, money 1 
goods or effects, to be employed in accomplishing any of the objects or contracts in relation 
to the obj ects, which objects and contracts have heretofore been declared unlawful; or to 
take the charO'e or command, or to navigate or enter and embark on board, or to contract 
for taking tbtcharge or command, or for the navigating or entering and embarking on 
board of any ship, vessel , or boat, as captain, master, mate, petty officer, su rgeon, super-
cargo, seameD, mariner, or servant, or in any other capacity, knowing that such ship, 
vessel, or boat is actually employed, or is in the same voyage, or upon the same occasion) 
in respect to which they shall so take in cbarge or command, or navigate or enter, and 
embark, or contract so to do as aforesaid, intended to be employed in accomplishing any 
of tbe objects, which objects arrd..contracts. have hereinbefore been declared unlawful, or to 
answer or contract fol' the insurfng of any slaves or any property or other subj ect matter 
engaged or employed, or intended to be engaged or employed in accomplishing any of the 
objects, or the contracts in relation to the obj ects and contracts, which objects and contracts 
have hereinbefore been declared unlawful." 
In the 7th clause, with the customary verbiage, it 1S declared] that (( if any person shall 
knowingly and wilfully ship] or put on board of any vessel any money, goods, or effects, to 
be employed in accomplishing any of the objects hereinbefore declared unlawful, then and 
in every other such case the person so offending', and their procurers, counsellors, aiders and 
abettors, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence double the value of all tbe money, 
goods, or effects so shipped, transhipped, laden, received, or put on board, or contracted so 
to be as aforesaid," 
And by the 10th clause, the persons th us aiding and abetting the slave trade, are further 
declared to be felons, and shall be transported tor a term not exceeding 14 years, or con-
fined and kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding five years, nor less than three years, 
at the discretion of the court. 
The right and privilege heretofore exercised of suing in Vice-admiralty courts for the 
forfeitures or penalties incurred by the contravention of this law, are set forth in the 
12th clause, notwithstanding any criminal proceedings that may have been instituted 
against the aiders and abettors of this trade. That the mercbant in the case of the Dos 
Amigos bad left himself subject to both sorts of proceedings there can be no doubt. In a 
case somewllat analogous to this, of recent occurrence, a British vessel, commande'd by a 
British subject, the Augusta, dispatched by a London house, was captured by Lieutenant 
Htll, of Her Majesty's ship Saracen, having merchandise on board adapted for the slave-
trading factories, and having' a direct destination to one of these. The vessel was con-
demned a t Sierra Leone, but no proceedings have been taken in the Vice-admiralty Court 
111 England by Lieutenant Hill, to recover the penalties incurred by this breach of the law. 
The notoriety of this vessel at all the factories on the coast of Africa had its weight in the page 17 orig. 
tribunal wbere shewas ultimately condemned for aiding and abetting the slave trade. In no 
respect was the evidence against this vessel stronger than that ao'ainst the Cape Coast mer-
chant, yet that vessel was condemned by the authorities at Sier~a Leone. and the merchant 
is defended by those at Cape Coast. the Augusta, a notorious slaver, had only been cap-
tured and sent to E ngland a rew months before, under the name of the Gollupcllik, and 
under Russian colours, and she was found aga.in, on the coast) under the British flag, the 
property of London merchants. Tbe Spanish slave trader, who was captain of the Gollup-
chik, wilen captured by the Saracen, and sent to England, was subsequently taken neal' 
'Vhydah by Commodore Tucker of the Wolverine, while I was passenger on board that 
vessel} in another slaver called the Liberal; and from this man I learned particulars entirely 
cOl:roborative of the documentary evidence found on board the Augusta. The recent relin-
qUIshment of the slave trade on the part of Don Theodore Canot at his slave factory at New 
Sesters, one of the principal slave dealers on the Kroo Coast, led to the giving up of his 
books and papers to Lieutenant Segrim, of Her Majesty's ship Termagant, with whom he 
entered mto arrangements fOl'l'enouncing- his unlawful trade; and, on examining these books 
on board of Her Majesty's ship Wolverine, I found that a London house had long been in 
the habit of supplying stores and merchandise to his slave factory from their vessels on the 
coast. On the 4th or December, 1839, there is au entry of the arrival at his factory, for tbe 
purposes of trade of the English brig Enterprise. 
1st January 1840, There is an entry of the art;ival of an English brig, COl'cyra, helon<TinO" 
to another house in London, for the purposes of trade} and of having purchased of him 50 cy~ns: 
100 cutlasses, 100 large kettles, and 100 bars of iron. ~ 
551. D 3 13th 
22 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appenrlix, NO.3- 13th May 1840. The!'e is au entry of the re-appearance. of the captain of the Enterprise 
at his factory, and having purchased from him 83 cruces ofnce, orabout 2,000Ibs. weight, for 
GOLD COAST_ which he paid 63 dollars, and 84 dollars for 21 guns. 
1st July 1840. There is an entry of the arrival of the English schooner Gil Bias, of 
Commissioner's Lon.don, and of having purchased two pieces of doth, eight bars of-tobacco, and one gallon 
Report. of rum. 
. On the 5th of December 1840, Don Theodore Canot placed himself under the protection 
of the British flag, renounced his 'traffic, and gave up 104 slaves to LIeutenant Segrim. 
Lieutenant Hill, of Her Majesty's ship Saracen, on the 14th January 1839, visited the 
British vessel Medora, and was informed by the master that he had just disposed at the 
Gallinas of 10,000 dollars' worth of goods to the factories there. 
Lielltenant Segrim, of the Termagant, recently boarded the British merchant vessel The 
Guinea Man, and the master admitted having just sold 500 I. worth of goods to the slave 
trade factories at the Gallinas. . 
A British trader, a man of colour, who has an estabhshment at Accra, has one likewise at 
Little Popoe, where he is known to dabble in tms trade. 
This man was an aaent of a mercantile house in London; and information reached me of 
his having embarked f~r Popoe some time ago, in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's, a number 
of slaves on board a Bnttsh vessel then under dIscharge. On VISltlDS" tillS part of the coast 
in Her Majesty's ship Wolverine, on my way to Prince's Island, we lound at Great Popoe a 
British subject of colour holding a factory, from which Captam Tucker had information he 
had lately shipped a cargo of slaves. While at anchor off the shore, Captain Tucker 
addressed a letter to him on the subject, informing him of the report he had heard, and 
giving him to understand that, on any repetition of his illegal proceedings, he would destroy 
his factory, and carry himself to Sierra Leone. He returned a submissive, and I must add, 
a very proper answer, not denying the transaction alluded to, but promising faithfully in 
future to abstain from exporting slaves. 
I have noticed these circumstances, though not apparently bearing on the subject of this 
part of my Report, namely, the resources, trade, and government of our settlements on the 
Gold Coast, and the influence of the latter on the adjoining districts, in order to show the 
necessity there is for a new enactment to prevent the facilities that are now afforded by our 
commerce from supplying the slave trade factories with these commodities which are iudis-
pensable to the slave traders. It is evident that those f.ctories are supplied with goods by 
British traders, and especially by London merchants, to a very great extent. 
-p-ag-e-,-18:;--'or"'i"'-u-.- Mr. Van Buren recommended to Congress that an Act should be introduced prohibiting 
American subjects, merchants, and commandel's of merchant vessels, from carrying on any 
kind of trade with persons engaged in the slave trade on the coast of Africa, or supplying 
their factories with any species of goods or stores. In noticing this subject he said, " From 
reports of the commanding officers, it appears that the trade is now principally carried on 
under Portuguese colours, and they express the opinion that the apprehension of their 
presence on the slave coast has in a great degree arrested the prostitution of the American 
fl ag to this inhuman purpose. It is hoped that by continuing to maintain this forGe in that 
quarter, and by the exertions of the officer in command, much will be done to put a stop to 
whatever portion of this traffic may have been carried on under the Ameriaan flag, and to 
prevent its use in a trade which, whi le it violates the laws, is equally an outrage on the 
rights of otl,.rs and the feelings of humanity. The efforts of the several governments who 
are anxiously seeking to suppress this traffic must, however, be directed against the facilities 
afforded by what are now recognised as legitimate commercial pursuits, before that object 
can be fully accomplished. Supplies of provisions, water-casks, merchandise, and articles 
connected with ~he prosecutien of the slave trade, are, it is unaerstood, freely carried by 
vessels of different nations to the sl.,'e (actories, and the effects of the factories are trans-
l)Orted openly from one slave station to another without interruption or punishment by either 
of the nations to which they belong, engaged ill the commerce of that region. I submit to 
your judgments whether tIiis government, being the first to prohibit, by adequate penalties, 
the slave trade, the first to declare it piracy, should not be the first also to forbid to its 
citizens all tp6.de with the slave factorie3 on the C0ast of Africa, giving an example to an 
nations in this respect, which, if fairly followed, cannot fail to produce the most effective 
results in breaking up those dens of iniquity." 
M. Van Buren, 
'Washington, " December 1840. 
The necessity of framing a neW Act for effecting the object in question, is certainly (tS 
uI'gent in our country as it is in America. And in framing such a law, if I might presume 
to effer an opinion, I would suggest that all ambiguity be avoided, that what is to be 
prohibited be expressed in distinct and determinate terms, and that none but SUGh as are 
clear, precise, and susceptible ollly ef one sellse, should he employed. 
There is one branch of the trade of this country connected with that of the foreign slave 
dealers which also calls for attention, namely, the manuracture and exportation ofslave-il'ons 
or shackles. In the latter part of 1840, an order was sent to a manufacturer of Birming-
ham for two assortments of these shackles, each of 30cwt., pl'obahly amounting to 3,000 fetters. 
The party refused to execute this order, but it was executed by another house at 'Vest 
Bromwich, 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST OOAST OF AFRICA. 
Bromwich, near Birmingham. Our Commissioners at Sierra Leone have complained of the Appendix, NO.3. 
practice at Havana of clearing out these slave-shackles at the Custom-house as merchandise 
but how can we do so with 'justice while these shackles are cleared out as merchandise at GOLD COAST. 
t he Custom-house in Liverpool, and are as r~ularly exported as any other desoription of 
our manufactures ? Conlmissioner's 
Tbe merchants here say tbey do not e"port them for the slave t rade, but their aO'ents at Report. 
Havana, however, sell them to the slave dealers, and the question t hen is how far they are 
answerable for their agents' acts. The uncertainty of the state of tbe law as to the extent 
of the responsibility of persons at home for the acts of their agents abroad in somewbat 
similar cases, has led to the statement of one being put to the late Attorney-general for his 
Opl1l1On, and the nature 9f that OpInIOn IS such as to show that the necessity exists 0f 
amend ing the law as it now stanus, and bringing this offence, and others of the same kind 
more expressly with!n the true intent and meaning of the law. ' 
PART n.- THE SLAVE TRAD E. 
CASE OF THE ({ Dos AM IGOS ." 
THE slave trade has ceased to exist, for the l.st nine years, on any part of the coast from 
Apollonia to Accra. At the latter place a native chief of the name of Ancrah, formerly a 
noted slave de",ler, is still in tbe habit of smuggling a few slaves, from time to time, from ---.,..,..-~ 
Accra to the Volta, and Commodore Tucker bas reported a recent instance of his baving page 19 orig. 
sold 16 slaves to a slave dealer of the name of Fernandez, which he carried away in his 
vessel. But as a trade, tbe sale...ofmen may be said to have ceased along the line of coast 
above mentioned. . 
The practice, however, ofaiding and abetting the slave traders at the foreign settlements 
on this coast has not ceased, and a recent instance of supp1ying a foreign slave-trade vessel 
called the Dos Amigos, at Cape Coast Castle, with tllose goods wbich are required by the 
slave traders for the purchase of slaves, has shown that fa cilities have been given, up to 
a very late period, at ow' settlements on this coast to the foreigners engaged in this com-
merce to enable them to carryon th eir illegal trade. The Dos Amigos, a Portuguese 
vessel evidently and obviously fitted out for the slave trade, had anchored under the guns 
of Cape Coast Castle; it is the custom for tbe Governor to send an officer on board of every 
vessel that anchors there, to examine her register, and on being assured of her beinO" engaO"ed 
jn legal commerce, to certify the same, and to permit her to remain. v v 
A merchant of Cape Coast, and a magistrate of the place, made a sale of 113 guns, and 
16 barrels of gunpowder, to the captain of the Dos Amigos ; the slave vessel tben pro-
ceeded to Anamaboe and Accra, and at both places anchored, and was permitted to remain 
by the commandants, and to trade, at the one place for beads, &c., and at the other for 
prOVISIOns. The vessel was subsequently seized, carried tOSierra Leone, and condemned, 
and on examining her papers, documentary evidence was found of the trade she had carried 
on at OU~ settlement. The government, on being apprised of this circumstance, called on 
the PreSident of the Council at Cape Coast to institute criminal proceedi'lgs against tlie 
merchant. Captain Maclean replied, that he had brought the matter hefore the Council, 
(t and they ~)ad passed a series of resolutions, disclaiming all connivance with the slave trade, 
recommendmg the Governor to take measures to prevent all vessels o{ this description, or 
even suspected of being such, from being permitted to anchor in tbe roads, but at the same 
time that the P resident was not iu possession of auy legal grounds to take evell the initia-
tory sleps towards sucb a prosecution." Captain Maclean further states, in his letter to 
Lord John Russell, "that he should be able to establish the fact of the merchant's ha'l'ing 
sold certain articles of merchandise to tbe master or supercargo o( a vessel called the Dos 
Amigos, but nothing beyond that fact. Tbat merchant (he states) would naturally reply, 
that such a person had certainly entered his warehouse and purcbased these articles, payable 
Qn deliv.ery, but that he neither knew, nor was bound to know, that this man was a dealer 
in slaves. And it would be quite impossible for him (Captain Maclean) to prove a guilty 
knowledge against tbe person, or even to adduce a legal proof that the vessel to whicb the 
purchase of the goods helonged, was in effect intended or fitted out for the slave trade." 
On these grounds Captain Maclean declined to institute any proceedings against the mer-
chant, and at the same time stated, " that in point of fact, if he had exposed himself to legal 
pumsbment by bis conduct in the instance referred to, he knew of no merchant in the 
whole colony, including, of course, the members of Council themselves, who had not in 
many instances rendered himself liable to similar criminal proceedings taken against him." 
" Nor is it pretended to be denied, in a general sense, that all t)lese merc?a~ts knew. or 
suspected that such vessels as the Dos Amigos were connecteu dn'ectly or Indirectly With 
th~ slave trade; at least, he had never seen a Spanish, P ortuguese, or BraZIlian vessel on 
thiS coast (and he had seen hundreds) t llflt was not so engaged. But tbey, the merchants, 
had always c~usidered themselves justified as merchants in selling their merchandlse.to any 
person .who 11llght come to their warehouse prepared to pay them money, or otl~er eqUlval~nt 
for fhen' gOOds, nor had he ever imagined for a moment that he could legally mteriere With 
such traffic. )J 
Captain Maclean, waiting in the meantime for further instructions, issued a proclamation 
forbidding any vessels suspected of being engaged in the slave tracle from being permitted to ~ 
anchor in the roadsteads at any of our settlements, and sent instructions at the same time 
to the commandants of the ports to see these orde),s carried into execution. 
551. D 4 Things 
APPENDIX TO REPORT llReM THE 
Appeodix, NO.3. . Things w~re in this state when I arrived at the Gpld ~ast, .and commen~ en inquiry 
moo the subject. One of the leading members of CouncIl admItted tliat there'l'{lIS not Q,ne 
GOLD COAST. of the merchants who had not done what this merchant had been accWIJ'd ohlojpg, /lnd lI,e 
maintained the right of every merchant trading with any vessel which, afte~>du'l examina-
Commissioner's tion by the Governor, had been permitted to remain in the roads; tbat this circumstance 
Report. gave any vessel, on,arriving there, a legal chamcter, and consequently tbey were at liberty 
-:p~ag~e::-2*:::0-o~,·~,g~.- to trade with her.n I must confess there seemed to me a great deal of plausibility,.f not 
of reason, ill this argument, and further inqui.ies left no doubt whatever on my mlD~that 
a merchant could not possibly have been in ignorance of the destination of tbi~ vessel, Jlnd 
of the purpose for which these goods were purchased from him. I knew not bow 111> call·on 
the President of the Council to prosecute a person for a crime, whicb tbe President bi~ 
, it appeared to me, had rendered himself responsible for by permitting her to remain in 'i1\~ 
roads, and suffering her to assume, by this official recognition of ber legal ch¥"cter, the 
appearauce of a ve,sel employed in lawful trade. \ Tbe melancholy state of thIS person's 
mental and bodily health, at the only interview I had with him, and during the whole 
period of my residence on the Gold Coast, precluded the possibility of my entering into any 
explanation with him on this subject; and the extreme lilness under which be laboured, 
independently of any other reasons for abstaining from recommending the institution of pro-
ceedings agamst him, was sufficient to ;nduce me to leave this matter to some other mode 
of preventing the recurrence of its mischief. I can. by no means, however, agree with 
Captain Maclean that the frequency of the occurrence of this evil is an argument for its 
impunity, nor that the merchant neither knew, "nOf was bound to know, tbat this man (tbe 
captain of the Dos Amigos) was a dealer in slaves." There can be no douht but that be 
was bound to know whethel', in selling these goods, he was contravening the law or not, 
and whether, in dealing with the captain of a Spanish or P 0rtuguese vessel, such as Captain 
Maclean, in H all his experience, had never known engaged in legal trade on this coast,'· 
he was not aiding and abetting a slave trader in his pursuits, or was only prosecuting a 
lawful trade. Surely this argument would not be admitted for a buyer of suspected goods 
to set up, that he was not uound to know the c.haracter of a reputed thief, and vice versli, 
that it was not incumbent on the seller of goods adapted for the slave trade to make allY 
inquiry as to the objects of the purchaser, which, if known or suspected even to be illegal, 
it would be a breach of the law for him to promote. 
It is admitted uy Captain Maclean, that vessels of the character of the Dos Amigos have 
H in many instances" been permitted to enter these roads, and the merchants and members 
of Council have traded with thell. "Nor is it pretended to be denied that in a general 
sense such vessels as the Dos Amigos were connected directly or indirectly with the slave 
trade;"-then why were those vessels allowed to enter? And did not the knowledge, itt 
a general sense, of the real character of these vessels, which was not denied by the magis-
trates and members of Council who 'raded with tbem, amount to a guilty knowledge of their 
pursuits, which might have furnished legal grounds for the initiatory step towards a prose-
cution of them? 
I am fully persuaded that Captain Maclean derived no pecuniary advantage from the faci -
lities they afforded the slave dealers, and would be incapable of deriving any profit frOID 
that polluted source. 
But it is the unfortunate tendency oflong residence in this pernicious climate to paralyse 
our energies, and to familarise our senses with objects heretofore obnoxious, and to lead us 
down at last to a quiet acquiescence in the sentiments and interests of others, however 
adverse originally to our own. In fact, the freguency of any evil becomes a sanction for 
its continuance, and the number of the inhabitants participating in the benefits derived from 
it too often is a sufficient reason for refusing to meddle with It. One ef the causes which 
the President of the COlmcil informed me had prevented him from instituting proceedings 
against the merchant, was the opinion of counsel taken in London on the subject of the 
legality of his act, and the expediency of prosecuting him. The opinion of the counsel, "'la-. 
\Ii ightman (now Judge W ightman), I was informed, was in favour of the former. and afforded 
no mducement for a prosecution . 
On carefully examining this opinion, and the statement of the case wbich was laid before 
him, I formed a very different idea of the construction that ought to have been put on Mr. 
Wightman'S opinion. It appears that the case was laid before him by the London African 
Committee, and it is evident on the face of that statement that the case was erroneously 
stated to him. And notwithstanding this circumstance, the opinion of Mr. Wightman IS 
clear as to the illegality of the act with which the merchant is charged. And the only doubt 
that seems implied, is as to ~he facility of obtaining evidence of tlte guilty knowledge, the 
=~~=- existence of any appearance of which had been pOSItively denied in the statement of the case. 
page 21 ong. It is in the following words;-
" A case has recently occurred of the capture off the Gold Coast by a Britisb ship of war 
of a forei~n slave ship. which was subsequently adjudged to he a legal prize by the Mixed 
CommisslOn at Sierva Leone. Ou board the slave ship was found papers which disclosed 
the fact that a Bl'itish merchant, residing at Cape Coast, had sold to the mastel' of the 
vessel goods which were afterwards bartered or exchanged for slaves; it does not appear, 
however, that the vendor of the g00ds, in dealing with the master, was cognizant that they 
were intenJed to he employed ill accomplishing that which the statute has declared to be 
illegal, ' 
On 
SELECT COMlVIITTEE ON WEST OOAST OF AFRICA. 
On the part of the committee your opinion is req uested,- .Appendix, N·o. 3. 
First.-Whether the British merchant, by the sale of goods to the master of a foreign 
slave ship, under the circumstances stated, has offended against the statute of" Geo. 4, and GOLD COAST. 
is gnilty of. a felony 1 
Commissioner's 
Secondly.-vVhether under any circumstances the local government at Oape Coast Castle .Report. 
wpuld be justified in apprehending and sendmg a party charged or chargeable WIth such an 
offence to Sierra Leone, faT the purpose ofhemg.put upon hIS tnal? 
Lastly.-Whether it is competent to the government at Oape Ooast Oastle to adopt ~ny 
and what precautionary means to prevent the .merchant at the Bnllsh .setdements sellmg' 
goods which may be employed, though unKnown to the vendors, m the slave trade 1 
Counsd's Opinion. 
1. Unless the mercbant Knew, when be sold the goods, that tbey were used for carrying 
on the slave trade, I am clearly of opinion thathe is [lot guilty of felony. The question of 
knowledge wlll ·be for tbe Jury, If the case IS tfled by a Jury, or by a Judge or Judges Wlth-
out a jury, and will depend upon tbe evidence that is given, eithel· of direct knowledge, or 
that the circumstances were such tbat be must have known the destination and occupation 
of the vessel and her crew. ' . 
2. It will appear from the statutes 11 &: 12 and 46 of Geo. 3, c. 54, &c., that the 
merchant might · be tried at Sierra Leone; and, if so, I am disposed to thiI.lk that the con-
stituted authorities at Cape Coast would be warranted in apprehending him, and sending 
him for trial to Sierra Leone, aS4he o~enGe-committed is felony. 
3, I hardly know what precautionary measures can be adopted by the Governor in cases 
where it is unknown whether the vessels are intended for the slave t rade or not. The same 
articles that are used for bartering for shives are no doubt also used in bartering for palm 
oil, elephants' teeth, and other African products; and to prohibit all dealing in such articles 
of barter would be greatly prej udicia~ to the innocent trade carried on with Africa. The 
Governor can hardly do moxe than warn merchants ~ot to deal in such articles with suspecte~ 
vessels upon peril of the consequences. - ' 
(signed) W. Wightman. 
Inner Temple, 8 July 1840.% > 
It appears to me evident that the case put to lVIr. Wightman, though stated so as to be 
intended to obtain an opinion in eXCUlpation of the merchant, sets the question at rest as to. 
-tbe illegality of selling goods to a slave trader, and the only thing , necessary in such cases, 
when brought before our courts} to obtain a conviction under the statute of 5 Geo. 4, is to 
furnisb proof of a gnilty knowledge, on the part of the seller, of the purchaser's illegal pur-
·suits. To pro'lle that gnilty knowledge, tlie defenders of this gentleman state, it is necessary 
to have been actually present wben the Spanish or Por.tuguese captain of the suspected 
vessel purchased the slaves in the barracoons of Whydah, to have seen the money paid 
down, or the good's delivered to lVIr. De Souza for the slaves, and tv bave even had ocular 
testimony of the existence of the said slaves on board of the suspected ship. This is what 
these gentlemen consider furnishing sufficient grounds for supposing the objects of the 
foreign vessel trading with them to be of a suspicious nature. But the grounds on which 
a jury of Englishmen, I imagine, would come to a conclusion as to tbe character of a vessel 
in these circumstances, and the knowledge of th.at character on the part of the persons 
trading :with her, wou1d be, U nbe description of craft that vessel was of; the particular 
brade for which she was adapted; her peculiar build; the formality of her papers; the ___ = __ 
nature of the cargo slie already had on board ; the general use of the flag under which she_ page 22 orig. 
sailed, and the customary destination of all the vessels of her nation on the coast." 
The common notoriety of the character of a slaver on these C0asts whenever she comes 
and communicates with the shore, is a prima facie evidence of a knowledge of her pursuits 
on the part of those who are in communication with her. In one word, it is quite impossible 
-to be ignorant of the character of her pursuits. 
THE t( ROBERT HEDDELL." 
The case of this vessel under the British flag, commanded by a British su~ject, and 
belongmg to London owners, trading with a notorious slave dealer of the name of D e Souza, 
at Whydah! has brought the question of the legality of British subjects supplying the 
slave factones with the goods and stores they require for their nefarious trade to an issue. 
It appeared to me desirable that it should be set at rest without further delay. I was 
informed by the President of the Council that a British vessel was then in the roads, having 
recently anived from Whydab, wbere she had traded ,vith lVIr. De Sonza. This informa-
tion was g iven to me, in reference to the subject of the Dos Amigos case, and as a proof of 
the general opinion that was acted on at every place on the coast, that so long as a Blitish. 
merchant or trader sold his goods to any description of persons there, provided he received 
551. E money 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, No.3. money or produce in return, his trade was le~al. My opinion being different on this subject, 
I strongly recommended Captain Maclean, lf proofs could be obtained of the commander 
GOLD COAST. of the vessel's having been trading with De Souza, to seize her and send her to Sierra Leone; 
Captain Maclean did not think it expedient to do so, and the ques!t~n of damages lying 
Commissioner's against him for a seizure under similar circumstances app~armg to mfluence his determi-
Report. nation, I endeavoured to obviate that difficulty, but wlthout effect. I then called on 
Captain Maclean to examine the papers of Captain Groves, and expressed a desire to see 
bim; and the following day he ,called on me. At this mtemew the captain appeared 
extremely hurt at the imputation thrown on Mr. De Souza's character of being implicated 
in the slave trade; that he, Mr. De Souza, had been basely calumniated, and had never 
dealt in slaves to his certain knowledge during all the time that he had been acquainted 
with Whydail. This extraordinary vmdication of the chavacter of the most notorious slave 
dealer that ever infested the coast of Africa, I replied to, by reading an extract from the 
Act of Parliament, 5 Geo. 4, and informing the commander I considered his trading 
with De Souza came within the full meaning of the terms "aiding and abetting the slave 
trade;" and I expla.ined to him what the penalty was of this offence. He then gave up the 
vindication of Mr. De Souza's character, and mformed me that ,previously to his "oing to 
Whydah he had asked the oplDlon of Captam Maclean, and likewlse of L,eutenant Levinge, 
Qfthe "Buzzard," and his going tQ Whydah to trade with De SQuza was with the express 
sanctiQn Qf hoth these gentlemen. 
I questioned the former of them at Cape CQast Qn this subject, and the latter at Whydah, 
where I happened to fall in with his vessel Qn my passage to the Bight of Benin alld 
Prince's Island; and both of these gentlemen positJvely denied that any such sanction had 
ever been given by them. In the meantime the captain took his departure for Accra, and 
immediatefy after her Majesty's ship "Wolverine" fortunately arrivmg at Cape Coast, I 
addressed the letter, of which the following is a copy, to Captain Tucker, the cQmmander 
of that vessel, and the superior officer of our squadron on that coast :-
U Sir, " Cape Coast Castle, 22 March 1841. 
"I have the honour to mform you that some weeks ago a British barque called the' Robert 
Heddell,' anchored in these roads, and it came to my knowledge that the said vessel had 
just arrived from Whydah, where my informant, Captain Maclean, gave me to understand 
the captain of the said barque had been trading with Mr, De Souza, the cel,ebrated slave 
dealer and factor resident at that place. 
" I requested Captain Maclean immediately to send on board this vessel for hei- papers, 
to ascertain the nature of her trading at Whydah; and in the event of there being any 
evidence against the captain of trading with De Souza, to seize his vessel and send him to 
Siena Leone for triaL Captain Maclean did not approve of this step; I then proposed to 
bear all the responsibility of any damages that might be against the captor in case of her 
acquittaL 
" I now requested Captain Maclean to send for the master of the vessel, and he waited 
on me the following day. I read him an extract from the consolidated Slave Act, showing 
page 23 mg. the illegality of tJ'ading with a llotorious slave dealer, and supplying him with British 
fabrics adapted for the trade, and without which the traffic cannot be carried on. He 
acknowledged that he had been trading with De Souza at Whydah, while the' Buzzard' 
was off the coast firing upon the factory of De Sou •• ; but maintained that his was a legal 
trade; that he sold British gQods to De Souza, and got hard dollars in return; that the 
amount of his dealing was about 10,000 or 15,000 dollars, for which he must go back to 
Whydah; he said that he had himself a factory at Whydah, but that the proceedings of 
the' Buzzard' had upset everything. He said tbat the British Government and British 
cruisers were altogether under a mistake about the character of De Souza; that he was no 
slave trader, but the viceroy of tbe king of Dahomey at Whydah, and had nothi~~~w hat-
ever to do with slave dealing. He, moreover, stated to me that he did not go into W llydab 
to trade with De Souza, without first getting tlJe sanction of Mr. President Maclean, and 
then of the captain of the' Buzzard,' who said there was no objection whatever to his 
going to Whydah to trade with De Souza; that it was his duty to encourage, uot to impede 
the legal trade of British ships. 
" The above facts I am ready to substantiate, if necessary, on oath. 
t( I have, &c. 
" (signed) R. R. Madden, 
" Commissioner of Inquiry on the Western Coast of Africa. 
"To Captain Tucker, Commander of the Squadron 
on the Western Coast of Africa." 
Captain Tucker immediately proceeded to Accra in search of the vessel, and found her 
there. On examining the books and papers of the. captain, no doubt was left 011 his mmd 
of the trading carried 011 between !he captain and De Souza; and at the time too when 
Her Majesty's ship" Buzzard" was engao'eel in hostile proceedings against the slave dealer 
De Souza; in fact, at the very period the British vessel of war was firing on the factory, the 
British merchant vessel was trading with its owner, The captain made. full .dmlsslon of 
his having traded to a considerable extent with De Souza, that he had had the management 
of 
SELECT COMMITIEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 
of a factory himself at Whydah for several years, and was the agent of a house, whose Appendix, NO.3. 
vessel he then commanded. He expressed great alarm as to his state of health, (being then 
ill of fever,) if sent to Sierra Leone, and begged of Captain Tucker, in consideration of the GOLD COAST, 
general nature of the practice, and the I gnoran~e of Its Illegahty that had hitherto eXIsted, 
that he would not detain his ve~sel; and on IllS glVlng a solemn undertakmg under hIS Commissioner's 
hand to abstain in future from all manner of trading with such notorious slave dealers as Report. 
De Souza and Zangroni of Whydah, Captain Tucker released his vessel. . 
The declaration formally made and presented to CaptaIn Tucker, was to the followmg 
eifect;-
" William Tucker, Captain and Senior Officer in Command. 
"Barque --, Accra Roads-.J 
"Sir 23d March 1841. 
" I her~hy most solemnly promise that I will not carry or convey, nor cause to be carried. 
or conveyed, nor in any way assist in the conv~~.yance ~f any cargo or ca.rgo~, goods or 
merchandsie, nor permit any goods or merchandises consIgned to me to be carried or con-
veyed to Mr. De Souza, Zangroni, or to any other . slave merclu,:nt at Whydah, ?r any 
other slave-trading places on the Western Coast of Afnca; that I WIll arrange and wIUd up 
my mercantile transactions there with De Souza, so soon as posSIble; and that r WIll not 
in any way carryon any trade there agam, untIl the opmlOn of the Government law officers 
be obtained. 
(( I have, &c. 
"(signed) , 
" Master of the --, and Agent to --. 
"To Captain William Tucker, Hel" Majesty's Ship (Wolverine,' 
Senior Officer on the W estern Coast of Africa. 
(( Signed in the presence of -
l( Henry Dumaresq, Lieutenant. 
" John F. Charleton, Acting Surgeon." 
On the arrival of Captain Tucker from Accra, he informed me that on full GOnsideration 
of aU the circumstances of the case, he was induced to release the vessel; and the grounds 
for his coming to that decision were, that notwithstanding the evident illegality of the act 
of the master, being only the agent of the owners, and having obtained from him an the 
necessary evidences in proof of that fact, and of acting under their orders, be considered it 
would be better to institute proceedings against his owners. 
I thought then as I now do, that the vessel ought to have been sent to Sierra Leone, and 
the owners of her separately proceeded against in England. Captain Tucker, however, 
I am fully assured, look what he considered the best course ; and no one who knows the page 24 orig. 
zeal and ahility he has shown in the conduct of the service on this coast, and the extra-
ordinary success which has attended his eiforta in blockading the rivers ; and adopting 
the proper course, for the first time carried into effect, of preventing the slavers from 
entering the rivers and carrying out the slaves, rather than suffering them to embark the 
slaves and take the chance of capturing them on their coming out, can doubt for a moment 
that any step taken by him was intended to benefit the cause, to whose service I believe 
he is most heartily devoted. And I would beg to be p~rmitted to express my deep 
regret at his removal fi·om the command on this station, at a period when the syslem he had 
adopted of stationing vessels permanently at the mouths of tbe several rivers on this coast, 
and effectually preventing the exportatIOn of the slaves, had begun to produce such beneficial 
r esults; in two years Captain Tucker had captured 16 vessels, and the whole squadron 
under him, no less than 100 in that period, principally vessels fi t ted out for the slave t rade ; 
and whicb, fully equipped one with another., must have cost, on an average, 10,000 dollars, 
or 2,000 I. sterling each. In fact I have no hesitation in saying, that he has done more by 
the means he has adopted for impeding and damaging the interests of the slave trade than 
any of his predecessors. During the short time Iwas on board the " Wolverine" he captured 
two slave vessels, OD e in the vicinity of Whydah, and another'in the act of sailing with her 
slaV"es from the mouth of the River Nun; from that region where, Mr. Jamieson states, 
the slave trade has entirely ceased to exist, but from whose immediate neighbourhood, 
tbe Bonny, Captain Tucker estimates that 2,000 slaves are exported a year. This vessel, 
on being chased, succeeded in relanding her slaves, and eluding the pw'suit of the cruisers' 
boats; but the following morning was found abandoned in a creek, with the marks of 
blood upon her decks, showing plainly enough the violence that had been used in com-
pelling the slaves to leave the vessel. 
Captain Tucker, on his return to Accra, informed me of his proceedings in this case, 
and his reasons for releasing her. He stated to me that besides the declaration made by 
the master, he had received another communication from him, stating tllat the g'oods he 
had sold to De Souza consisted of guns, powder, and cotton goods, to the amount of several 
thousand dollars ; that these goods were the property of others, and that he was the agent 
of them i that he either carries out these goods with him, or they are consigned to him on 
the coast, and come out in other British ships to h1m; tbat he had a factory at Whydah 
fur 10 or 12 years past belonging to uthers; that tne fi rst a~ent he appointed there was a 
Mr . ---, and that hIS present agent IS a son of Mr. De Souza. . 
The matter is further brought home to the owners of this vessel by the testimony of 
551. E 2 Lieutenant 
28 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO.3. Lieutenant Levinge, of Her Majesty's ship" Buz'llard," who was blockading the entrance to 
Whydah at the period in question, and in open hostility with the slave dealer De Souza: 
GOLD COAST. He info~med me on board the" Wolverine," then offWhydah, where the" Buzzard" was sta-
tioned, that he had entered the river when this vessel and another merchant ship belongina 
Commissioner's to the same house were at anchor there; that he went on board the "Sea Witch" to mak~ 
Report. some inquiry about a slaver which had recently sailed from Whydah, and the master of 
the latter declined to give liim any information on the subject. That on seeing the cargo 
of this vessel consisted of American planks, he applied to the master to sell him a certain 
number of pieces of them for the use of his vessel, but the master refused to do so, stating 
that the cargo had been brought there for the sole use of Mr. De Souza, and had been 
already sold to him. 
This vessel was consigned to the master of the former one, and had been sent to America, 
for the planks sold to De Souza; and there cannot be a shadow of doubt of the use for 
which they were intended by De Souza, namely, for the temporary decks of the slave ships. 
These circumstances I requested Lieutenant. Levjng~ to ~ommunicate in writ'inO' to Captain 
Tucker, and the offioial statement of them IS now 1D hIS hands. I cannot help repeating 
that the Spaniards and Portuguese have certainly great reason to tbink they are dealt with 
strsngely, wben they find our merchant vessels supplymg tbe slave-trade factories wibh 
those very goods and stores which we seize and condemn thei. vessels for conveying to 
tbe same places. 
There are two arguments advanced by the advocates of the persons employed in aiding 
and abetting the slave trade, against interfel1ng witb what they call the innocent commerce 
carried on by British traders, at the foreign slave-dealing factories: tbe one is, that they 
are promoting the abolition of the slave trade by supplying these places with British goods: 
poge 2{5 orig. and the other is, that they are extending the trade of Great Britain by making these 
factories markets for our merchandise. , 
These arguments are loudly and boldly set forth by. the persons implicated in similar pro-
ceedmgs. WIth respect to the first argument, It IS difficult to belleve they can convince us 
of the truth of their assertion, that the supplying of these factories, on our parts, is calcu-
lated to hurt the interests, or hinder the proceedings of the slave dealers. 
• The plain fact is, these slave-trade factories could not subsist without the supplies they receive 
from our merchant vessels, and the assistance they derive from our merchants in bhe various 
British settlements on the coast; they are mainly instrumental in keeping up the slave 
trade, and for the paltry amount of trade which is done with them, but which is sufficient 
to enrich a few houses which monopolise this trade, the vast resources of Africa are pre-
vented from being called forth by the continuance of the slave trade; and the general inter-
ests of English commerce are completely swamped by about half a dozen of individuals who 
are the suppliers of this illegal trade in Africa with goods and stores, at the same time setting 
themselves up as the supporters and defenders of the great and general commercial interests 
of this country. \ But these never can be promoted by legal commerce to the extent they 
ought to be, while the average profit ou the slue trade continues to be 180 per cent.; and 
the efforts of our squadron to crush this traffic are neutralised by the support which their 
factories receive from own fellow subjects. It is impossible to have visited Africa along a 
Hne of coast of some 2,000 miles, and extended one's observations even 10 miles from the 
coast, and not have considered the vast resources that might be developed in that country. 
This country is one which, if its climate were better, ought to become a new East Indies III 
the hands of England. There are hardly any products which we receive fi·om India tbat 
are not to be found in Africa without cultivation. But tbe hands that are needed for culti-
vatlon the country is deprived of by the slave trade, and the aliment which is essential to 
the existence of it.is deJlived from the vessels and establishments of three or four commer-
cial houses, who happen to have nearly the whole trsde of the Gold Coast in tbeir hands, 
and by whose proceedings the existence of the slave trsde is prolonged. What keeps 
slavery alive and flourishing in Cuba, P ort Rico, and the Brazils, but the power of 
obtaining fres1l slaves as fast as they wear down the health and strengtb of those 
they hold? 
11" vigilance of our cruisers has nearly put an end to the conveyance of goods from 
Cuba and the Brazils to the coast of Africa. The factories there find a new resource in 
BritIsh commerce, and all the exertions of our squadron at so enormous a cost orIife and 
money, year after year, to the extent of upwards of half a million sterling, (the estimated 
annual cost of our anti-slave trade efforts,) to prevent these factories from receiving their 
suppJies and exporting the inhabitants, inasmuch as these exportatious depending on such 
supplies are defeated by those vessels under the British flag and those traders in our settle-
ments who afford the ships and factories of the slave dealers whatever they require. And 
yet their aiders and abettors talk of promoting the abolition of the slave tr.de by trading 
with them"of beating the Spanish and Portuguese dealers out of the field; but for what 
purpose are the goods which the English traders sell purchased at the factories 1 Why, for 
bartenng for slaves. And to whom are the goods sold? Why, to the Spanisb and Por-
tuguese dealers on the coast; and what description of goods are they whicb are chief! y dis-
posed of to them? Why, guns and gunpowder; rum and tobacco, and Manchester goods 
of the coarsest kind. But as far as the mere carrying of the "oods from Cuba and the 
Brazils to. the factories in Africa, the foreigners have been alreaJy beaten out of the field 
by the vl~llance of the cruisers, though It matters very httle to the merchants JU Cuba or 
the Braztls how they are supplied with them, provided tlley continqe to receive them on 
the coast. 
If 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 29 
If this system is to continue, or canllot ~e prevented, I would, on full reflection, fee1 Appendix, NO. 3. 
myself constrained. to recommend the ces~atlOn of our effoorts ,on the coast: for the ~uppres­
sion of this illegal trade, believing tlH~t It could not eXlst Wluhout the co-operatIon and GOLD COAST. 
assistance of British subjects and of BrIllsh trade. 
Commissioner's 
Report. 
SLAVERY ON THE GOLD COAST page 26 ol'ig. 
Prevails to a O'l'eater extent among the natives th~n on any other part of the coast which 
I have visited. Like all slaves, however, which are chiefly for ~omestic service and not for 
prredial labour, the treatment is mild, and the slaves comparatIvely happy.. The Fantees 
make liD w'ars now to obtain their slaves; those WhClh they hold are elther_b Q.W m bondage, 
and are ,,,hat are called" slaves of the house," and are more leniently tre~ted. than ?t:hers; 
or they are purchased in the neighbouring countries where the slave trade IS sti ll earned <?ll; 
or they aTe taken in U pawn" either for the debts of others, or themselves; and not bemg 
able to pay these debts they lapse into slavery. . ' 
The original injustice done, however, by their capture and the mischIef of the vlOlenc.e 
which accompanies it is still the "arne, however they are treated in slavery; and all the eVIl 
effects of the habits of indolence, pride, and domestic tyranny whICh slavery mduces, are 
notable enough even in this species of mitigated bondage. I was not aware, howe:ver, th.at 
slavery existed in any part of the British Ell\pire or of its settlements, except III IndIa, 
Ceylon, and St. Helena, which were specially exempted from the operatIOn of the general 
Act of Emancipation of 1834, till I visited the Gold Coast. There I found EnglIsh sub-
jects holding slaves and pawns ;.-buyi.ng, selling, and disposing of them as property at thell' 
deaths, and the official sanction of the authorities even given to tlus system. ThIS was the 
first matter to which I called the attention of the President of the Council and strongly ex-
pressed my surprise that slavery should be suffered to exist on the part of Englishmen ill 
a Britisb, settlement. I called on Captain Maclean to take steps to put it down, and as he 
had previously issued a proclamation prohibiting British subj ects from aiding and abetting 
slave trading, J suggested that he should immediateq. put forth another proclamation, for-
bidding British subjects in these settlements from huying, selling, or holding slaves; Captain 
Maclean did not think it necessary or advisable to do so. He informed me he had put the 
Government in possession of aU the circumstances of the case, shortly after the passing of 
the Act of Emancipation, and he had received no instructions on the subject of the abolition 
of slavery on the Gold Coast from that period to this from the Colonial Office. I Therefore 
he inferred that the existence of slavery there was known to, and recognised by the British 
Government. The letter, nowever, in which Captain Maclean's intimation of the existence 
of slavery in that settlement was given to the Colenial Secretary of State, it seemed to mew: 
was rather a statement of difficulties standing in the way of abolition than the disclosure Ii 
of a system whose evils req:uired the earliest possible removal.)( I found it impossib le to 
move Captain Maclean from the opinion he entertained that the Government was aware of 
. the existence of slavery there, and was not disposed to meddle with it. Having had m'ore 
recent opportunities of knowing; the opinions now entertained on this subject in England 
than Captain Maclean, I endeavoured, though fruitlessly, to change his opinion, and to 
convince him that whatever apathy in fonner times might have been felt with respect to the 
existence of slavery in British settlements, the deepest interest was now taken in the ques-
tion of emancipation; and wherever it was connived at and suffered to exist, the moment 
its existence was known, the authorities would surely be instructed to prosecute the parties 
who were en~aged in it.~ In the course of three or four weeks subsequent to this applica-
tion to Captam Maclean, I received a communication from Sir John Jeremie, the Governor 
of Sierra Leone; on the subject I had taken up, of the abolition of slavery in our settlements 
on the Gold Coast, to the following effect; that by the Act 5 of Geo. 4., all dealing- in slaves 
whatever was prolubited, except in certain cases mentioned in that Act. And that by 3 and ~. 
4 Will. 4, c. 73, sec. 12, " it was further enacted, that from and after the 1st of August _____ 
1834, slavery shall be, and is hereby utterly and for ever abolished, and declared to be un-
lawful through tbe British Colonies, plantations, and possessions abroad," with the only 
exceptions set forth in the 64th section of said Act, namely, "India, Ceylon, and St. 
Helena." That the law should be immediately proclaimed in the settlement, and in 
the mean time, that I should ascertain, if it were alleO'ed the nearoes in question were 
free, their true condition, the amount of wages theyo received, ~nd whether they were 
bought, or sold, or bequeathed, or pawned for debts 1 And that I should take what 
other steps were required to prevent the law from beino evaded. To enable me to effect 
these objects, Sir John Je remie transmitted to me a justice of the peace's afPointment, 
which mIght avail, if I found it necessary in any of the dependencies of Sierra ,eone; and page 27 orig. 
also copIes of his proclamation prohibiting slavery, under severe penalties, on the part of 
British subjects in auy of our settlements on the coast. These proclamations I lost no time 
in having posted by my servant, in all public places in the town, on the gates of the castle, 
aud the church-door, and the trees of assemblage in the market-place. I explained the 
necessity of obeying the law to such of the people as were British subjects, and SOltle of 
thes~ persons of colour immediately consented to give up their slaves. But the effect pro-
duced on the white inhabitants was such as could hardly have been expected to be occa-
sioned by the proclamation or any measure which was not one of life and death. The fol-
) low"in.g.  day a general meeting of the magis"trate s, members of Council, and merchants, was I~ ~,. . 
APPENDIX TO REPOltT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO.3. cf,llcu to take into conRidellation the lll'oelamation whiell I hau made public, and also to 
inclui!'o into the sevel'a.1 cases of the prisoners in the gaol, which I had called for an cxa.-
GOLD COAST. minution of bclo!'c the magi. trate.. The President of the Council had previously left 
CIlPO Const Ca. tle f~l' Accra, and ll;s place was on this oceMion tillcd by onc of the members 
Commie.ioner', of Council. A great many objec(jons were taken to the proclamation in question. I was 
)loporl. informed, if It wa. attempted to be carried into execution, the natives would risc in rehellion; 
th"I'c would be an ond to all subordination in the country; the Ashantees would come down 
with nrc all,l 8word (0 reclaim (heir fugitive slaves ; the Dutch of E lmina would make w:11' 
on us for ~llch'B; 1110reover, . lavoI'y hau never been abolish ed in our settlement. on the Gold 
ConRt, becltus. thcre was no mentien of our African settlements in the Emancipation Act of 
:J & 4 Wi ll. 4 : and, because they nevor had received any compensation for the slave.. I 
replied to these arguments and reason. fOl' upholding slavery :-that I believed they might 
dismiAA a ll their fea!'s with l'e"l,oct to the natives at onee, tf,at the proclamation was nevor 
intended to apply to them. "hat where we had no territorial ri~hU!, it never cO<1ld he 
imo!jineci eur laws were to 1)0 enforced 0 1' carried into effect. That the proclamation 
Ilpphed Aolely to Britisli subj ects living in British settlements, and not beyond the soil 
helonging to them ; and, tha t the Dutch at EIll1ina, would no mOre tbink of any hoatile 
movement fIt Cllpe CoaBt, in th e pOBsible event of a fugItIve alave seeking Hhelter in our 
"ettlomentA, th an they would in Demerara, where similar occurrences happen every day i 
and tha t, as for the A. hantees HufTCrilig their slaves to escape in. any conSIderable number, 
0 1' Anding it wo .. th their while to cng'Qge in a war with us in the present state of their affairs, 
to "ecovel'" few runaway captives, hundreds of miles from their own country, tbe thing 
WIlB improbable in th e highest degree, and could not for a moment give the slightest appre-
hension to any person wlt o t.emembcmd the res ult of OUI' last war with them, and the 
impression it mndo on them.\\ I stated, th llt if no mention was made of tlle settlemonts on 
the Gold Coast, in the E mancipa tion Act, the words of that law were sufficiently compre-
llCnsive to embl-ace them all: "Slavery shall be, and is heveby utterly, and for over, 
al)olished, and declared to be abolished throughout the British colonies, planta tions, 
I and possessionH abroad." And the threc cxcep tions to it were distinctly ~ Jlccifi ed; and 
with lle"pect to tlleil' not having I'cceived compensation on the Gold Coas t for their slaves; 
if they neglccted to upply for it, they were not priv ileged notwithstanding to continue 
to hold the slavos aftel' the ill egality of so doing l,ad been once declared oy the Eman-
cipation Act . I found it impossibl e to get rid of th e plea 0 11 which it was determined 
th e proe lnmatio" was to be re8i.teu, namely, thut it appl ied to the natives of the whole 
ounb'y in which QUI' settlements wore CHi l"lb lishcd ; and that to enforce the law on them 
I would be to ,hive th e whole eountl'y into hostility with our forts. I was naked if the pro-
clamation waB not intended to be enfol'ccd in theBe towns under the guus of the forts '~ 
J replied that thc question of our jUl'isdiction over these towna immediately under the g un. 
of our forts was one whi ch there wa. sO llle diffel'encc of opinion about, but bha t my view of 
t he pl'Oc1nmation was th ut thc law \Vas solely to be enforced on British subj ects, who were 
entitled as snch to t he protec tion of OUI' fOI'ts; or the whi te inhabitants, and tbo superior 
cl l1RS of Mulattoes in those plnces who claimed to be British subjects, and were eonsidered 
as such in aU their relations wi th the authorities of our forts. 
Aftcr 1 had left the meeting, th e magistrates procecded to ellter a formal protest against 
the step that IOl1d beon t l1ken fOI' the aboliti on of slavery in these scttlemen ts, and the 
pl'otest wns signed by the whole body of the merchants oj' Cupe Coast Castle, the magis-
trates al1 d rtlcmbol's of Cou ltci l, nnd the commundant of Anumo.boc, with the solitary 
cxception or ono gontlcnuUl, Capta in Stanley, a merchant of Cape Coast, who, to his honoUl', 
page 28 O'/';'!J. rcfused to put hiR nalllo to th e Pl'otCKt. In. this document, the persons who protest against 
th e nbolition of alavery 1\l1d Lhe systelll oC pIlwtl ing, set out by dcclaring, " They heartily 
conC ll 1' in the in tell tions of Govcru nwn t, us ful' Uti I'cgal'ds t.he Europeu.n popula.Liou j" but 
nevertheloss, on nCcoli nt of' the natives, as th e proclamation they state, is applicable to that 
ci ass, and can Oldy be carl'ied into cnee t by loree, "that attempt would be immediately 
)'esiRl.cd nA an uttock upon th ei !' dCQI'C's l intcl'cs'ts/' They denoun ce thc pl'oclama.tion illto~ 
gcthCl' lUI 1\11 tmsnre and impol itic pl'oceeding, 1ll1d they linish with. a proposal, a to leave 
the work or cll l1w cipnli on to th e 8a fcl' nnd RU l'c r melhods of time and civilisa.lion.H 
1 (ettl' dIose muthodH of' n.bo l il'\h in~ I5 lavo l'Y ~,! o \lld be slower in their opera.lioH in Africa 
than the longc:-i t li vc~ of th(' !>IhlV<:!1:l in these 13 I'jtish settlements would ever suffice to see 
brought. Lo n. conclusion, 
The wh olo pl ell 1'01' Ruel'0l\ t!ing thc o>:ecutio" of' the prochunation is fOlllHlod on llll 
nterpretn ~ion or it whi "h It doeH not Ilrl mit of, n"mely, the upplie"bility of it to the natives 
ovor wil on\ they hn.ve no I'ig;ht whntcvol' to exorcise any juriSd iction, and on the o.ss llIuption 
of' theil' being cll ilcd 0 11 to employ lo!'ce n~ainet people who a l'o not Britisu .ubj ects, an(1 
not amom.ble to ]31'ilish Illw. 
Lt is llooeasn.I'Y to noti ce tho ex pression of their hearty concurrcnce in thaI intentions of 
Govornment a uS fnl' as l'egnl'llH the 'E uropean pOpul ll. lion." Conncx ions arc fc,)l'lllod vory 
generall y in these places, which t\1'O clllled it C!o untl'y mn.l'l'ingcs;" these women nre usonlly 
pOA~CAHOd 0 (' ~I n.vca j whutcVQ1' l~ l'OPOl'ty they ac~nil'O is usunlhl' invested in shwes and hou~cs, 
and vcry f'req nclIlly wlllltcvol' }.l1'OpCl' ty (,ltcy inh erit is in. s aves. In rnany instanet.l~ th~. 
houBehold Klnvcs of' E lll'OpCnnA Itrc held in thcir no.mCB : 1\1,d iu l\1l instance which came t@ 
my ~1I'1l knOW ledge, wl\en Ule proehllnatioll against slavery w~s prol"ulguted, slav08 thut 
wou ld lHI.\Tt;! been ImrChll.sod by n. Hl!itish subject as. his propel'ty, it wns Q.1'l't\ ll.ged, wore to \ 
be boughLn nd ho d in tho }!lunc of' 0110 of lhe 1\l\tivo wOIll.en I have I1l1ndod to, Thi~ Cil'-
CUI1'1.stn.nc.:o it iR vcry U~SOl'lLi lt l ~o boftt' In mil\d, in issuing any now Act Qt' Ort1ina.l\cl..' to \ 
prohibit sillver)' in these .cttlom ntH. 
Whel\ 
SELE CT COMMITIEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 
WlJen this protest was communicated to me by two of the magistrates, I felt it to be Appendix, NO. 3 . 
my duty to inform them, that I consIdered it was tb e interest of the claBs of persons I bave 
alluded to, which this document was calculated to defend, and not the interest of the native GOL~..s..oAST. 
slaves, which th e proclamation, rightly interpreted, did not meddle with at all. I likewise 
thought It my duty to inform a considerable number of the slaves who applied to me for an Commissioner's 
explanatIon of tbe law, wbicb had been made known to them by means of the proclamation, Report. 
t bat no British subj ect was entitled to their services as slav",s, and that they had a right to . 
seek red ress from the Governor wbere tbeir liberty was still illegally withheld . One of these 
applications was from the pawns of one of the principal British authorities ; their letter has 
tbe names of l oaf these people affixed to it. 
I Up to the period of my departure, none of the Europeans had cOll\plied with the t erms o( 
the proclamation ; but slavery, as a system, I think bas received its deatb b low at t his 
settlement, and the knowledge of the illegali ty of slavery which t be slaves now have, will 
render it very difficult to get tbem to give their unpaid services to their owners much longer. 
N evertbeless, it will be necessary to take some fu rther steps to preven t the possibility of the 
contmuance of the system here. 
W Ith respect to the information. which Sir John J eremie requested me to ohtain respect-
ing the condition, treatment, and maintenance of slaves, and whether they were bought, 
sold , and bequeathed as proper ty by Europeans, I am fully sensible of the importance of 
t hem . . W ben the question of abolition was fi tSt stated at Cape Coast, there was no con-
SIderatIOn then for the U uearest .interests~' of the natives, or fears of provoking resistance 
on their parfs ; all the fears I heard expressed were for their own pl'operty in slaves, and 
the cruelty anil injustice of depriving them of them without remuneration. There was a fre-
quent bartering going on betwee,!! the E uropeans and the natives, fol' the supply of the esta-
blIshments of the former with shrve ~ervants, and pawns and servants, and labourers for 
t heir boats or wharfs . These slaves were either fed in the house, or allowed a certain quan.-
tIty of goods monthly for their SUppOl't. This was t he whole of their allowance; and it is 
to be horne in mind tbat when their masters frequently boast of paying their slaves for 
labour, as they have often done to me, it came Qut on inquiry, that the amount which was 
said to ble U the earnings of their lab0ur" was in reality t he miserable aHowance for their 
support, which was harely sufficien t to keep li fe and soul together. l Altogether, t hough 
the slaves ill the hands of ,t he Europeans in these settlemen ts are not treated with signal 
severity, and on the whole are very lightly worked, I must say I never knew slaves in any page 29 wig. 
country worse provided with the necessaries of life, or reduced to live on a barer supply of 
them. There is no kindly feeling, moreover, between the slaves and the European owners; 
t~ere is a mutual animosity on account of difference of religion, of manners, and modes of 
lIfe, and a mutual distrust in their intentions towards·each other, growing out of the tem-
porary nature of the interests of the transient merchant in the welfare of the slave, and the 
hal'barism of the slave in a "ountry where barbarity is the rule, and civilisation the e"cep-
tlOn to the prevailing hahits and practices of the people. 
With respect to pawning , it has become so mixed up with their rilodes of doing business 
at these settlements, that they a re extremely averse to have the system in any respect 
altered, or even known or inquired into. The system of giving credit to the amount often 
of several hundred pounds of goods to natives without any property, who carry these goods 
Into the mterior, and retail them there, is very mischievous to the peopl e, and injurious to 
the general commerce of the place. The great competition that exists, and the superabun-
dance of goods which the London merchants force upon their mercantile agents 011 the 
(wast, .cause the latter to have recourse to those native hawkers and pedlars who carry their 
l'0ods mto the interior. They generally stipulate to retllrn by a certain period, and in some 
lOstanees they leave their children or dependents at tbe disposal of their creditors to become 
theIr pawns, in the event of their failing to return by the appointed time, or to pay the 
debts they incuITed for them. 
It often happens that these hawkers and pedlars get" panyared", as they term it, in the 
countries through wruch they pass, for the debts of others of their nation, and are mulcted 
in goods Or money for ehe debts of stra.ngers who happen to he their countrymen ; or they 
seU these goods to some king ox chief, who takes h is leisure in the settlements of his 
account s, and the expiration of five or six weeks, or months perhaps, pays a par t of Iris 
debts, or the whole of it, in his own commodities, and at his own value; and on the return 
of the hawkers they are not able to mak e their obligations good, and their pawns are laid 
hold of, or they themselves are seized and thrown into the gaol at Cape Coast, where I 
found so considerahle a number of these debtors, 5 0 of them, some of them confined four 
years, and others two and three; and in one instance of pawning and imprisoning, on the 
part of a man of colour, I strongly, but ineffectually, called on the magistrates to prosecn~e 
tlus person, ",hose debtor he then had in confinement at Cape Coast Castle, and the man s 
WIfe and child, seized on after his imprisonment, detained in bis hands as pawns at Dix-
cove. 
Some of the maO"istrates admitted the scandalousness of this infamous proceeding, 
and the presiding ~eUlber of Council undertook to inquire into it. But I am sOITY to 
have to observe., that he strenuously resisted my application for the man's release, on the 
grounds of the rigb ts of 'the man of colour above adverted to, and the largeness of the sum 
due to him, some 16 ounces of gold; but the wrongs of the native, and the length of the 
tIme of his ill\prisonment, were not of sufficient moment; and when I quitted the Gold 
Coast the man was still in his dungeon, and bls WIfe and chIld m the hard hands of tlus 
graspmg creditor. 
This mod~ of administering the laws and of governing these settlements surely cannot go 
55!. E 4 on 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO·3. on without ljireat disgrace to the national character and permanent inj ury to the general 
commerce 01 Great Britain' for though the President of the CouncIl has a character Wltl, 
GOLD COAST. ihe negroes for the patience' with which he listens to their '~ palave!s," and the fairness with 
Commissioner's which he decides on their disputes, the Government Itself IS held 111 contempt and extreme 
dislike hy the natives, alike by chiefs and people. .. . . 
Repor!. Bavino- proceeded to Accra I immediately caused the proclamatIOn prohlbItmg slavery 
on the p~rt of Europeans and other British subjects in our settlements to be carried into 
execution, and generally made known among the slaves. I found that a BrItIsh merchant, 
lately deceased at Accra, had left a large number of slaves, hetween 400 and 600 by 
common report, for the benefit of his creditors chIefly In London, to whom he was largelY' 
indebted. Two-thirds of the trade on the Gold Coast are 111 the hands of one London 
house, and from which establishment a great proportion of the merchants on the Coast 
obtain large credits; and if misfortunes should' arIse, or death should happen, the PresIdent 
of the Coullcil is expected to see that the interests of tbls house are taken care of, and III most 
cases of deatbs he becomes the official executor, and the disposal of the property rests with 
him. In such cases, and in ~bat of the property ;n this jnst&nce left, it chiefly consisted of 
slaves and pawns, and on one occasion, when I contended witb the autllori!ies that the sale 
page 80 orig. of sucb persons would amount to a felony, I was inforIlled that justice was a greater duty 
than generosity, and tbat people, wl)ere debts were due and creditors clamorous, could not 
be deprived of any Jroperty that wa$left to pay them. 
33':'---- I called on Mr. lopp, the commandant of the British fort at Accra, to have the slaves 
______ and pawns in tlIis case brought before me. The deceased person had lately been com-
mandant of the fort, and his slaves were living in the vicinity. I received from Mr. Topp, 
I must gratefully acknowlegge, every assistance he could render, or facility he could throw 
in the way of my proceedings : he had the slaves 0f tbe deceased brougbt up to meet me 
at the house of Mr. BannerIllann, and there I explained to them, ""' I had done at Cape 
Coast, the state of the law with regard to tbem and their masters, and infonned them 
whenever they desired to obtain their ii'eedom, tbey were justified in demanding it at the 
hand. of the British authorities at the place, and that no Englishman had a. legal right to 
hold them in slavery. These poor people little knew how they were situated, that in a few. 
days, but for tbese proceedings, they were destined to be sold; ' and many of them mIght 
probably have been committed to the care of a person, whose factory at Little Popoe 
I have already spoken of. Since the death of their late master, they had been allowed to 
remain in idleness with his family, and having been severely worked heretofore, the chang. . 
in their treatment was for the better, and they imagined it was to last. Theil' spokesman 
informed me, on behalf of all of them present, that they were thankful for what the British 
Government had done for them, and whenever tbey found themselves badly treated, or not 
given enough to buy food and clothes, they would go to the commandant and ask to be 
made free; but so long. as the children of their late master behaved well towards them they 
would remain in their service. 
They went away, however, very grateful for the information they received, and little is 
likely to be ever got from tlleir senices as slaves. I then called on Mr. BannerIllann to 
inform his slaves (to a considerable amount), to do the same with them as had been done 
in the former case, and Mr. Bannermann, having patiently heard the explanation I gave 
lllm of the state of the law as regarded slavery, and the nature of the proclamation for its 
prohibition,-this gentleman at once expressed his determination to abide by the law, and. 
to set his slaves at liberty; and much to his honour I must add, he stated that on everr-
subject connect~d with the affairs of the settlement, his strongest desire was to meet the 
views and wishes of the Borne Government. I now sent for a coloured gentleman who held 
a considerable number of slaves, of the name of Bruce, and pursued the same course as in 
the case of Mr. Bannel'mann) and ~v]th similar results. Circumstances having «orne to my 
knowledge at Accra which maue it desirable -for me to get further information on this 
subject of slave holding and man· pawning in our settlements, I addressed a letter to Mr. 
~resident Maclean, from Prince's Island, making several further inquiries respecting slavery 
~~ ill these places, and the disposal of slaves on the part of British subjects. The queries 
___________ I put to Mr. Maclean, and the answers he returned to them, will be found in the Appendix., 
I It will be seen that he denies any knowledge of the existence of slavery on the part of 
. British subjects 011 the Gold Coast; that he does not consider the British Act of Emanci-
pation applicable to our settlements on the Gold Coast; that slaves or pawns are never sold 
to pay the debts of deceased British subj ects in these settlements; that a number of slaves 
in the year 1839, belonging to a merchant of Accra, who had then died, had not been sold 
by him, 1111'. President Maclean, to a person (sometimes residing at Accra, but chiefly at 
his factory at Little Popoe,) but that he, Captain Maclean, did mterfere for the protection 
of the creditors, and he "enfranchised the slaves, apportioning> to each, according to his 
ability, a small sum, which he was to pay to the estate. These sums many paid, others 
borrowed the necessary amounts, givinv; their labour at low wages until they could raise 
money to repay the debts so contracted; , the purchaser alluded to," he believes, advanced 
money for many of them, as he required theIr labour. That it is incorrect to say that-
pawns (that is, individuals) are the , property which is really made over to the pUl'chaser; 
such is not the case; it is a cevtain portion or qu-autity of labour which the purchaser gets 
in exchang:e for his money : he has no property whatever in or right over his debtor, wilD 
can leavelum at any moment he chooses." I would ~ike to know from Captain Maclean how 
the pumhaser gets the labour without the person of the pawn? or how. Captain Maclean 
never sold any of the slaves to this person, and yet he "ad vanced the money for many of 
pagc 31 orig. them, as he required their labour"? or how Captain Maclean can believe thatt no Britisll 
subject 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WESIf COAST or AFRICA. 33 
subject holds slaves or pawns, and yet he, Captain Maclean, is called on to interfere for the Appenai,-::, No, 3. 
protection of the oredltors when a merchant dies" possessed of slaves acquired by his 
creditors' money" ? Of, finall y, how Captain Maclean can consider that the Act of Emanci'- GOLD COAST. 
pation of 1 834 was never made applicable to these settlements, and y~\. admits that he has 
never seen the Act in question, and kno~s nothl~g of lts ~peC1~c provIsions. He has seen, ·Comrnisskmer's 
however, the Act 5 Geo . 4 which I had cited agamst slave holdmg; and the term, a,pawns" Report. 
he states, is not to be fodnd in the Act. I would ask Captain Maclean if the term slave 
is to be found th ere, and if a pawn is any other than a slave, ;'vhile the debt is unpaid for 
which he has sold his freedom to another, and while he cannot labour for himself and is 
compelled to labour for his creditor? -
J t might be well to have considered, before thi. obj ection was taken to the Act, what 
Vatel has said to simi lal' objections: ., Conjunctures vary and produce new kinds of cases 
that cannot be brought within the terms of law, except by inferences drawn from the general 
views of the Legis lature . H 
~ The replies I have referred to admit of many comments; I am very unwilling to make 
any further observations on them, but I feel bound to declare that the opinions expressed in 
tbem are totally at variance with the results of all the inquiries I have made on the subject 
of these queries. 
THE PALM OIL TRADE 
Is chiefly carried on in the river B onny, but it is beginning to become of some importance 
on the Gold Coast, and especially at Accra, where at tbe D anish settlement about five or 
SL."{ ship-loads of it were eKpOl·ted i n the course of the preceding year, as I was informed by 
the principal Danish merchant in that .ettlement. 
The average import of palm oil into Liverpool for some years past has been about 12,000 
tons a year, value about 400,000 I. sterling. Three-fourths of this quantity are exported 
from the Bonny, and the other outlets of the Niger, and gives employment to 12,000 or 
}5,000 tons of shippina' in the year. In the year 1840 ,1 3,170 tons of shiRping were em-
ployed in this trade in °the river Bonny ana its immediate vicinity. There were 36 vesse,ls 
employed in it, and the crews of these vessels amounted to 736 mell. In the Appendix ~2. 
will be found the details as communicated to me during my voyage to the coast, by a com- ' ------
mander of one of these vessels, Captain Brown, of the tc lVIay," who had made 11 voyages to 
the coast, and bas a thorough knowledge of tbe trade and of the people of the Bonny. He 
states tbat tbe oil is brought down from tbe interior, a distance of about 1 50 miles, and solei 
to the Bonny traders in small quantities. It iSlurchased from them by the English trader, 
and paid for ill gunpowder, guns, cutlasses, lea and iron bars, and boilers, to bacco, rum, 
and Manchester goods. The imports into Great Britain, 
In the year :t808 did not exceed 200 tons a year. 
Ditto 1827 ditto 4,700 ditto. ' 
Ditto 1 834 ditto 1 3,945 ditto . 
In 1 816 the official value of all the palm-oil imported from the coast of Africa did not · 
exceed 23,8311. sterling; in 1828, 1 26,5721.; and in 1834 the official value of the palm oi l 
imported from the coast of Africa amounted to 408,810 I. sterling. The quantity of ship-
ping employed in this trade since 1820 has largely increased ; in 1840, in the B onny alone, 
it amounted to 13,170 tons. Th ese data are sufficient to show the extraordinary g rowth 
of this trade. 
From the British settlements on the Gold Coast tbe amouut of palm oil exported is sti ll 
extremely small ; from the Gambia, in 1839, the whole quantity exported was 15,093 gal-
lons, the value of which was 2,396 l. sterling; and from Siena Leone, in 1839, it amounted 
to 7,993 t.; -only about one-half of which was the value of the quantity sent to Great Bri-
tain. In 1838, of the whole amonnt of palm-oil exported from Africa, the value of the 
quantity exported from the Gold Coast amounted to only 7,350 I. sterling; and in 1829 it 
fell off to 7,000 I. sterling; while in ehe Bonny, and the Bights of Benin and Biafra, it 
increased that year upwards of 50,000 l. sterling. It is a very singular circumstance, and 
one deserving of sel'ious consideration, that nearly the whole of this trade has sprung up 
within the last 30 years, in a place where we have no government agents, forts, or settle-
ment. That without any protection or a single British merchant or mercantile agent resid-
ing at the place where this g reat trade is carried on, namely, the river Bonny, that trade has 
ong inated, grown up, and steadily augmented up to the year 1834, when it reached the page :J2 orig 
amount of 269 ,90 7 cwts. exported from Africa, and chiefly ITom this river and its vicinity. 
An increased demand for slaves in 1837 took the natives away from th.eir former occu-
pation, and the quantity of palm oil exported /i'om Africa was considerably diminished. 
But as the slave trade m the Bight of Biafra again dimiuished, the trade in palm oil in-
creased in proportion. In 1835 the imports of palm oil into Ureat Britain amounted to 
260,151 cwts.; in l 836 to 277,017 cwts.; iu "lS37 to 223,337 cwts.; in 1838 to 282,312 
cwts . The duty on it yielded, in 1835, 15,2:30 l.; in 1836, 14,678 l.; in 183'7) 13,299 t.; 
and in 1838, 17, 102 1. 
The price of palm oil, duty paid, varies from 331. to 341. a ton. If we compare the trade 
of the Bonny with that of anyone of our settlements on the coast of Africa, where we have 
large and costly establishments, we find the trade of the latter, with all the protection 
aft'orded them, full far short of that of the Bonny, tbat has no aid or support of any kind 
from Government. These are facts which I fee l called upon to state, but li'om which I do 
551. F not 
APPENIJIX'I'O ILEI'UltT FROM TilE 
AI'PVlldlx, N\),~. Hot d«l<~ iJln to ,haw Hlly in('( I'Cl1(',c Illl fi. .. VlJtlNJ.IJfc; to our f1HtU<'rlH~ntll otl the coaf+t of' Africa. 
'I ' h" ~,, H"LLlcllHlntK IlI'I, there ill "hoK"" and ill gQverned, 110 dou"t; hut tho firKt g,'cut ex-
COLI) CO,IST, pOllAIJ 01' U",ir I,. t,.hl, . llme,,1. I. f\UM to, nllel it Hce rn . to me Lh', hOHt y,,/ier now iK, to rcurl or 
----- Llu)lll nrTic;nlJL Itlld bwu;(i cird to c;OrnOUW(:C a.lld l,l..dvantngcouH to the mhr.aJutantlil i and where 
('(Jlliltlillillioll(u' t\ tlll-H(' ('Mtll.hliH I ~l ll fUltH Jiave bC(:OIne (; urrdH'l)I1H rwd OXPC,lnHjVC, amI whcrl! puhlie tllonr.y hati 
It<lporL, /)(\(\11 InvI.lwri to II very g",,,,t Il"tout, 1.0 ""duec the." CAtrlbli. ilmo"t. to tho I",vol of the trade 
~II'd ';".01I1'OOH or tho, colony; nud III oti,o,' .cttlomoll!'. wll ~I'c the mode of govenlrnl;ut i. 
JII.J1I1'IUIiH 1,0 I.hn llfl.LJol'lnJ chn.ra ciel', cu..l clJl llLcci only to rctOJI1 the monopo ly of th(; whQle 
UI~(JB of' tile OvJd (JOfl.Ht in t} l ~ lI al1d H ()f' fl lew indiviclualH, wh ere Hit juriMdietioll iH illjuri· 
ollMly 0PPI"'RHivc to ,ho ",.tivoK, rwei IIn.,tbiHIh.ctoI'Y to ",II who arc employed unrl c, it, from 
ti' e nn1'l'O W1II1". of ,he mO~II H {, Inced nt th" diHpOKrt! of th" loclt! admrnrHtl'atlOn, ,hilt """thpr 
Hy_I,em of gOYQl'rlln(",1. Hh,," d be ndoptori , havinr; in view th e general exton. ion " I' Driti." 
lJ()tomm'cc, nnd not th o IHJI'I,iclll nr jnl.cl'oRlH of nny Indiyidual mcrcha.nbl; and the promlJtion 
01' Mh o,,,, civili."ti"o, ill HI.Oll d or th" ""In r'gemont of our Hettleme)!t at the exponHc of tl ,e 
IlI"iYOH' tCI'I'iu)1Oil,1 ";g llI H, '!'he Meou,,1. 01' tlte cpmn tity of B"itish 1)I'OOIlCO exported (;'0111 
.~ l-ivoI'pool ill 1 ~ao rUld J a MJ wi ll Hhow th e ri oHcl'l))bion and nmount 0 'goods thaL lire chiefly 
- "i"I,,,"o<1 01' ill I,he !l01ll1Y tl'llde, 
I. i. to he ,'uHlerllhcl'I'd tlr " Llho Ol'il(i nlll motive 1'0" the establishment of these sottlement. 
",Vil li I,he IJII C011J!ng(mlGnt I1 ll d protoction of th e f:Sl fJ.vc Ll'ftdc; Lh e mod e of governin g them hnt; 
Sloi IJOWI 1~CC()1l1lIl0dl\f(\c1 by any ItICI.I.IIH to Lha nHcJ'lltion in ~hc circuh'l t;tanCCH of' tho8e {'olo-
1I 1c:H. Th <J Af'I 'ic;u rl COIllPIIIIY WUA cHLn.l>liHhml fOil cfl.. l'l·y iI1g on the HJo.ve lmde in the wot'd~ () f 
1,1", A< :1, 2:1 Qoo,:J, c, :JI ; I,ho 1",'l.H and Rottlem,,"t" are ",ado ov 1'1.0 th" OOIl'I'''''Y,'' to 
I,ho ,'x(clIl, 1I11d purpo"I' thrr.t tho HaiJ forLH IUld "otLic", cn tH and premi.cH . hall be m"ployeel 
III. nil till' ''H hOI'",,('LOI', on ly 101' bl, o CII CO '"'OgOI11CHt, ]))'otecti oll, and dofonco of t.ho said 
i.1'lIdu," 
III blr ltr'JlIl I'1. of 1.11 0 CO'''ll1itl,rc Oil A f'ri cnn JiGI'I,. of' J B] a, the (I "CHtion eit.her of "bl"'''OI1-
jn~ (.)11 1' )O(HL I.I('ill (\nf,H 01' nudt illg Lhcm tUd uoj4J' vicnL t.o the ViCWA of tile Govol'llll1enl with rC~Hpcct 
t(} fJ ll' ('iv iJj l'mtj(JIl (j f' Arl,j(,U, ItPP('HI"A 1.0 hnvc been en l ('.l'Lain cd1 and th e; CommiLtce atate IJm.t 
U Llwy ('ILIIII ()1. ('oneilldl' thl,j I' n'(' l'oI'L wil,hout diAl.incil y ~ talill g Lo The lfOUAt' J t.hat n. prineipal 
IlIl)ti vo w hiell IlIdIlC( 'H flll'lll I t> 1'('('OIIlIlIt ' lid the ('oll tilltlfltlCe o f iU'! cf4LnbliHhlflcnt on the Gold 
(JOIIM j" 1I 1It! I,IiI ' Il id of' J> llrl ifltl lOIlL /'UI' itA IlllliutC' l lilll(,(" iK Lhe inHLructiul' a.nd improvc-
11ll'lIt ,If' til( ' IIIILivl'H of' that cou ntl'y, ill whi('h but li (. t.i c, if allYt hing, has been. hitherto 
UC'('OIIIIIJiKJ IPd ," 
Now, if' l,hiK W~lK 1.1 1<1 ('hit,!' ohjf\(,t f ~)I' lYllIi rd.ui ll ing OUl' HcLti(:mrnlJ.,:; on the Gold Con~t1 T 
lnW-I 1, Ally LlliH ohj("'1. h ll~ I!lOKI, )o( i ~nllll y IhiJ cd o f KUC('(;r:.K . Noth ing thai, d(' AO I'VC~ u. numc hf\.A 
J l~ \C Il dono Lownni.1.I iL, !lilt it wIH dd hi! woll Lo inquire where BritiKh ('OIn Il j(\I'CC haH 
f1 o lll' j,d w d {()I' 1'10 1I 11l1l,Y ),('IU'H; 1i)1' (!Xll.l1l pJ C, ftf, tile ]3oll nY1 Wbu,L Inl:q OUI' tmuc dono lhc)'(~ 
{()II l,h(1 l'Ivi liHl ll.IOIl II lld (lIluc'Hti() ll 01' t ile IIll l.i vCH 'f It hrt,l~ nccompli ",hod nothing fur tJw i ll'\-
pl'ovvmollt of tho pooplc on I,ll(: l!Olllit; and hcyund it, whcl'o t.he; pnlill oi l iH gllth( 'rod, the 
Ll'Ild ul'H IlIlVC 11 0 ildll l('lll'O w lilll ('v(;I', fl lld I.hry 1\110 t.1)(> p rn!Ol1A who A,l'e ehi e' fl y ben.efited by 
1,l1 u 1,1'lI do, 'rlH,.J 11.('('O ll l d,M W(: I'('('oiyu of' Lhe I)('oplo of' tho Honny fl'om t.he E UI'O POUll tl'ndCI'K 
1ll'CJ MII('h 111'1 lilt, I.i'lldlll'(' I'/i of' Illf; 1I( ~gl'() l 'II('~' llIig'ht be' glnd to fi .· on, in proof' of' tho jnCOI'-
I l i ~j IJII " MHVI IP,'(' I I<"'HK Hilt! illdollljllll)k~ fl OI'("'l ll'I"H of' UH'i r di:;poKiLio n, They am probably tho 
\Vorl'lL jluuplo 011 1,Ii (l \\'1101(1 "V(~ K f.<'I' 1i COllHl or Af'I';CtL Alld 1 illdeed, thc gCllcmlity of the 
1,I'n dnl't>I '·VJIO 1'1'I1(JlH'IIL 111111, I';VI'I' al't ' IH)t (,Il,klllato.u 1.0 ICllVll many g'Crlll fi of c;viliHlltion in 
lilly hnrll(l I'(Hlfll Ho il. 't'1 1I' wh oh~ tl'llIl(, of' tlll ' BOIlIlY iH ill Llw J ln.lld~ of the Liv el'pool mcl'-
(IJlll ld,H1 11 )0( l,h uL o r til t, Uold COIll'lt jl'l ill Lil o IlIwdM 0l'th090 of' Lon don. 
Tim l.illH' wlll(' 11 I,lWHl' v\ 't>lI"l l!11'I r'('lIllliu in thl' !lOllny iH p;r l\C' l'nlly IwlwcCI' thl'co nnd fOUl' 
Jllf.'I" ,'J,'J or;,,!, II Hl llf.lll~, 'l'11t ,y IUIl, Iull' iliHidl' I Ill.' bIL l' ilL I,IIU moul,h oj' t hil'l I'ivel', nnd Atdlcr oC(Jn~i ol1n.Jl y a 
~'I'Ul d, tl nll l 1'1'0111 ~l i \' kll l'HH. '1'111'1'(' HI, llIoi)l 11.1'0 IUHH tllll !) 16 01' 20 llwl'cluwl Hhips Itt Ilnchor 
III tIlt, l'i " (I I', rJ ~ 11O 1,1'11<1 (\ i H (:11I'I'i(1t1 011 nboft.t'd I he ~1ti p~, IJdw('\' 1l the IiU1HtUI'H, /iu l )(.wcnl'goc~, 
1111(1 «Jn ~' Pt',pppl find II i-/>! 1'1 11 bj{'d 1'1 , '1' 1I v i ldlllcrl C'o (.) 1' lhiH ch i\...(' cxtclllh~ oyel' n.llthc (.OW\1f1 
ill 11111 vk,l llit.y, WIl(' 1I C: '1 )lui ll J\dllIlIH VIHiLt'd t he l'ivOl' Ben ny Hovol'!ll YCill'A II!.!.'O, ho ct'lti-
lilli1pd I,htl 11111111)(11' oj' Hlnvm" (·xpn!'f,(I<.! {'110m t,hll.L ph'wo n.t 20,000, Cu.pLoin 'j'l1 t:kcl', tho 
I'I ''1lt tl'iOl' oIJiNW 011 Lhil'l HLu,j,jOIl, lind who I'l'cqll('l1t,ly v i ~itH this pillCt\, c~LiIlUlt.C~ the numlwl' 
Ilow I 'X IHll'f ud lit. ~, ()on, 'J'II('I'(I iH Il ot.hi ll~ /.0 U~'('(l\ll\t few thiH deel'muo\c but th e inCl'CnRCd 
vig il llil(1(.\ ql' t.ht1 (.'l' lI i !'lI\I'H \lilt! thv ill('I'('II~(ld 1,1'I1t1(1 Cl lI'I'icc1 on with it. 'I f' Lhe incrCi\scd tl'flde 
ill I.l H' pU 11i1 011 WIIM owi ll g; 10 ill('I'('Il Ht·d (,lI ll i'lil li ul1 0 1' t.he l'Ioi l, Lhe latL('\!' wOldcl be tm fll{' i ont 
1,0 II ('\..Illl II I I, [If I' 1hu I'Hllill ~' (l fl ' i ll Lllu l,l'lIdv o l' l'If.o ll'l l nHm, Hut. I'uw of the pl'uductM uf .A.edcn 
1\ 1'1\ due to Iho ('Iilt.ivtll,iun 0[' t,lh' Fioi l ; I,he II C('H lind plnnts thn.t y ield thoH'!. du so wilhouL 
('Iln~ 011 (, 1I11,ivnliuli. Tho I)(I\V Irulil' , ltoW("'! I', nn the (,( IIIt'l f" and to 1\ :-Imull o.x.Lont in the 
Inl(Il 'iol'1 g' i Vl'H I Ill! !l lll i"t'~ 1,11t'I'c.' (,hOi'll' 1I1i1l\ulil(:tllI'CH whil'h li:ll'In(wly they could only obtnin 
hy I,llt' Hlil ll or 111('11. Bill, II, i ~ Oil I.Iw \\'IIIL'I'~H id o wllol'c Llle p l'O til\ll bILI Il(lS~ of it, iH c.1l1cfl y felt. 
'1lll ll lwople oj' !lonny dn Iltll, Muf1('!' I.ho inlllild Iln(iv('l'I 10 hl'lIl '" down tlw oil to the const. 
'1' lwy It('t'p n g'I'('nt 1I11111h(,I' l)C lll'llwd \)Ollt:-;, 1I11llly Ill' 11\(.:1\1 wil') n etll'l'ol1lL<ln 01' bl'IlSH swivel 
lIlOlllll,C.ld lH\ (Ih u bow, ThvHO hO~lho\ 1.111')' M(.~ nd up till' I'i vl\l' for thl"' oil I1ti litl' itS nboc, nntl 
PIII'C' hIlMl ' if. /'1'01\1 Ilito (lOllnt,I'Y Jlooplu. '1'11 (, Ill'it.!l\ they puy 101' iL i ~ c:\t l'(im cly $mnll ; In filet, 
JoIO 1,I,j llin ;,.:;' 1I !'1 hlll'dly 10 n\l\lIltlUI'Il I.11 l,hn )o(o ll ~,I'/'t 10' 1' the Ll'oublc tl l\d c:\PUl1ijO 01' gatheri llg' tho 
lIlIl,H, nnt! (IX I,l'lIt'lill/.!,' !I'll' oi l 1'1'0111 UH~ilI, 
!lIlL t.hil'l t.IIIUlil, ('oIHhwLml itH iL i~ , cu.n hUl'd ly bo (\xpoctod to ICf\,d to 1\l1y Po'pou t impl'ovc-
11\~\Jd, in Lho (ltlHd it.iun o r Aft'le,lI, 01' ill(,lon~c or ilS (.'.uiti vation. A g'll llol\ of' pnlm-oi l hns 
pl'ullll,ll ly l\(Wt.\l' b~\on <"o ll(ldl'd IhHl\ II tl'Ul' f(hliL wn~ plt\l1tod 101' tho pUI'I)O~l\ of obt.aluing thi~ 
:nl,Ic.,l u. 'l'hl' Inll'M gTuW wild , IIlld flH' nuf.~ III'(' (1() \1 t\c L"d hN() Ilncl Ih~' I '{', whol'o n (' hill !tn t' 
11\) \,.I lhlll' ,(1 l\1plt ~y l nl\IlL luI' hili ::;In\'L'H; butllut,hillg like II ::Ic LlJud t-:ysh.HU of iUllllstl'Y i~ COll~ 
IItlcled wHit tlIlH,LI'Hde. 
'J'll\' 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA . 35 
The'people of Bonny, who bave managed to get thJs tra?c into their h,ands, are one of ~he .Appendix, NO.3. 
most barbarous dishonest and treacherous races 1ll tlus part of AfrIca. Our extensive 
commercial l'e l ~tions GOLD COAS t' . with them for nearly 30 years have not prodnc~d ~ny change in their 
savage customs and superstitions. By all accounts, even by the adnlIss ~ons of the masters 
of the ,merchant vessels jn this trade, they have not undergone the least Improvement. Commi:o:sioner's 
The following account of one of ,heir horrid 'Practices was given me by one of those Ih'port. 
captains, who was himself cognizant of the circumstances he described, III a case of hum.an 
sacrifice which occurred in the year 18<10 :-lYf y informant and the other masters of English 
vessels, then at anchor in th e Bonny, when they went ashore were frequently 111 the habit 
of seeing a little negro girl , about 10 years of age, ",,,ho had b~en bl'O~ght down [rom the 
upper country, and placed under the charge of one of the natIves at Bonny P~'~vlOus l y to 
being sacrificed by the J ujumen or pries~s of that place .. The masters of th~ BntI~!' vessels 
[,equently saw the ch Ild, and were not Ignorant of the mlended sacnfice of It. . Ibm kllld 
of sacrifice, it seems, is made once in each king's reign .. The chIld must be WIthout spot 
or blemish. If there is the slightest eruption on the sk1l1, or the smallest scratch, the 
child is held nnfit for sacrifice. Consequently, the person placed 111 charge of the ch ild was 
extremely careful to preserve it f!'Om hurt or injury, and in the present case seemed III the 
greatest alalUl at all times lest any accident should happen to it. The little girl was 
suffered to go about) to do whatever she liked, and no one dared to pU11lsh or. to con tradIct 
her. On the appointed day she was placed on a stage of planks placed across a canoe, and 
taken by some of the Bonny people over the bar of the river. The men in the canoe kept 
telling bel' they were going to send her to see her father and mother; and whIle engagmg 
her atteption in this manner, they slipped the stage on which the poor child was sitting into 
the sea, and, consigning her to the Fetish, they left her to gO down. The people ll~ the 
canoe then pull ed ashore as fast as possible; and at the very tnne thIS atrOCIty was suflered 
to have been committed, a tl'emend us tornado set in, and the ., Dalhousie Castle/' a 
British vesselloadiDg in the river, was totally wrecked on the bar. 
This event, coupled with the murder that preceded it, made a great sensation at the 
time. The Bonny men could not bear to speak of it or to be spoken to of it; and' the only 
reason given for this sacrifice was, that it was {' to do good to Bonny men." I inquired why page 34 orig. 
those who had seen 'he cbild so frequently, had not mterfered with the king to prevent 
such an act. If they had been defrauded of a few dollars' worth of rum or tobacco, would 
they not immediately have remonstrated with King Peppel? But ,this was not a matter of 
trade, and there was no Englishman there to meddle with it. Surely if there had been any 
British agent in this place he would not have suffered this act to have been committed 
without remonstrating ag-ainst its barbarity. But it is not the interests of humanity alone 
that would seem to require the protection of some consular agent of ours in this place; the 
interests of our trade demand it likewise. The manner in which the trade is carried on in 
the Bonny, and in which the natives and the crews of these ships are occasionally treated 
by the masters, calls for immediate attention . 
. The commanding Daval officer on this station ha.. been freguently obliged to visit the 
Bonny, and take cognizances of cases of violence anel inj ustice on the part of these 
persons either against the natives or their own people. 
Whe*n  I was in th* e Bight of*  BeniD, in t*h e month. o•f  IVra rch las*t,  there was*  the mate of 
of an English brig then in the Bonny in confinement on board, charged with having 
murdered the second maLe of the vessel while he was sitting at breakfast with him. 
Another master of a vessel was then in the Bonny] who had been recently tried in England 
for the murder of .one of bis sailors by flogging him so severely that be died, and being 
sentenced to lmpnsonment for several months, and yet had no sooner got out than he was 
re-appointed to the command of one of the largest vessels in the trade. In the year 1838, 
the following atrocious circumstances were brought to light by the capture of a slaver, to 
the captain of which a number of Kroomen were sold by the orders of Olle of our merchant 
vessels In the Bonny trade; on examining the Kroomen after capture] one of them called 
Centipede, alias "Sam ,Yeller," stated, thai he and five other Kroomen were taken to the 
Benin river in the ED~lish vessel U Protector," commanded by a person who died there; 
the" Protector" was then taken charge of by another master. One of tbe Kroomen had 
been ordered to keep watch over the store house, which duty it was alleged was neo-lected; 
in consequence of whieb the master induced the chief or k ing of the lown, off which the 
/C Protector ,. was moored in the Benin, to send the whole of the Kroomen on board a 
Pornuguese slaver (a barque,) then laying there also. Centipede was himself one of the 
Dumber sent. The barque was captureu WIth them three weeks afterwards by Her Majesty's 
ship H Curlew," commanded by Lieutenant (now commander) Norcott, ·where Centipede 
and the other five Kroomen were found on board. 
As for trusting alone to this kind of commerce, from which the far O'reatest part of the 
benefit IS derIved by the water-side people for the civili,ation of Africa, f see the fallacy too 
phunly:, and 1 thmk I may add, I know the policy of this recommendatioD too well to deSIre 
to see It confided m for a moment for the accomplishruent of the aim and obj ect of Govern-
ment with respect to Africa. 
Mr. Laird, wh.o canDot be supposed to have any views prejudicial to our trade or commerce 
in Africa, speakmg of a place in the vicinity of the Bonny, states that" at Calabar he 
attended the obsequies of a chief in that river, and his canoe came down after his death 
with the skulls of the men who had paddled her stuck upon each thwart of the boat to the 
numher of 40. That such a state of society should exist where British trade has been carried 
on to an enormous extent, and for a considerable time, may well excite the astonishment of 
551. F 2 those 
~I'I'ENDIX TO REPORT PROM THE 
Append'ix, NO.3. thoRe not awave of the diabolical influen ~e which the . Iave trade exertB both upon the enslaver 
alld thc cnslaved ." "lie WIlA struck," he ony., "here with the cx treme demorali 'ation of' 
GOLD COAST. the inhabitants jn comparison with t.h e natives of the interior." And he goe. on to ob,erve 
of' "the dcp,·r.vity of feeling among the )'~ople as :tnother addition to the I~ng li.t of 
(:OIllIlIiH ... iIIIlUI"1i melancholy proof. nf the dcb".ing errecta of hUl'opcun mtel'course w,th aavage natlOna, when 
U UpOll. ~ovcrncd .ol(\ly Gy the love of' glLin." A bOI'o all, tho f"lI"ei". that "I'e speciously put f()l'th by 
,ntcreated mon in tho plnns they pl'op,,"e (O,· civili.inf,( Arncn, I think thi. one of trusting to 
thi . kind of commerci," inte"cou"Be with the wator-side nat)vea for the enlightenment of the 
people, 01' tho improvement oj' the country, is the most calculated to lead to mischievoua 
I'csult. and disappointed expectations. 
TtJl" 'VllN of' liIXl'DNDl'fO llll ot Oape Ooast Castle )lnd its D ependencies, for 1838, ] 839, and 
1840, up to tbe 30th September. 
OUnnE'NCY . 
1839. )8:)0. ] 840. 
-- - --
i. s. d. £. s. d. £ . ...  d. 
Roldiel's 1,1l02 8 8 1,803 - ]0 1,478 1;) -
LnbonrCJ'H ~ 005 18 7 588 2 !)OO 7 6 
()n bboceeltH 226 6 8 107 10 - lOA fi -
School. 63 63 50 6 -
Cnnoe hire 33 10 6 luO 2 70 2 6 
ForI rcpnil'" 300 2 10 373 16 - 247 8 -
Gun~ing9ncie8 330 19 6 365 17 20 362 7 6 
ltesidellt at CoomosBie 48 48 36 -
t. 3,300 3,538 10 8 ! 2,068 10 
In M ". Macloau'" cJ e tail ~d returns of theae charges, in order to complete n term of three 
yenr" lip to 30th September IS'W, h e hus included the ex,penditure oj the qWlItcr ending 
:JIst D ecombel' 1837: 
i . $. d. 
The nmount of which is 878 2 3 
.And to theBe nl'e added the fo llowing items in one sum, for th whole 
I,oriod 0 1' th )'ee yen,'S : Sc lOo l mH~Lo l" ~ prLY, in A tc~ '!llng money - 120 
111 illil\)'Y stOI'OS for tho Custle, for tho sume [el'm 2,400 4 11 
And for ot,hel' conlingcll ~jcs, in steL!lill g; monoy - - - - - 367 
For Alleh exponses flS pnssuge-l1Ioney from Englnnd for Offioers, &0. &e. 
"flU making in ull - 6,082 17 10 
In the detllil od account prcsonted to me by the presioont, I find a clerical erro l' of I ,000 I. 
in the !l\ UlIl Loud of the exponditure, whi ch i ~ set down 7,082l. 17 s. 10 d. sterling, while it is 
only 0,0921. 17 s. lod. 1'0,· the three yea,·s. The average expense. of the government on 
Lhn Gold "'Ollst rer the mnintenance of t.he scvcm l forts, exclusive of salaries, would appear 
1,0 be 2,0271. 14 $. 70 d. a yelll', and the ~u lal'i es of the onicers on the coast, and thllt of the 
Sccl'otllr), in Lond on and the expense. or his office, amounting a ltogelhel', as shown by t l\e 
l'etuII" R, to n,5'IO I. Th e .total xpendit"ro fbI' each yeur w"" ;),5071. 11s. 7 Qd . The PM-
linmCIll\wy gl!unt of' Ij,OOO t. for the mnintem\l1cc of the f'OI'lS was reduced to :J,uOD lo1 durin& 
th e yon )', 193'1, 1835, 1830, 1837, 1838, and 1830; but in 184·0 IVUS increased to its original 
rnl'1oun l of 4,000 l. Such is the present ex pend iture and mon ns of meeting it, for the govcrn-
mnlli of these settlements on the Gold Const, administered, by persons on the coast, who 
IlI'O involved in l1Icl'('nnt.ilc illt, el'('.s t~, ovon whel'e they fil'e not o:-;ten~ i b ly embarked in trade. 
On '" ('n1l considora tion of the ",bjcc t of the advantnge 01' I'cGUning or abandoning tbese 
Hot.LlerneniH, I nm of opinioll Lhnt (,hoy ought to be I'ctnined, and th e only conclusion I,can 
come to if' Lhey nrc to be I'otnined is, Lllt,t. they must be g'ovel'l1ed in n very different manner 
1.0 what. t.hey nrc, The prcscnt con~tit.ution of government in these cstnblishn"lcnts is one 
which hn ~ (l. tondency to fhvour connivnncc with the sluve tmde, so {'ttl' ns supplying its 
liwtors with !loeds and Blo1'os, ,"nd with the system of slavery, and is Cl\lculated to with-
dl'l>w the po,'sonA exercising ,wtho"i ty thel'o fr'o m t h direction and control of H oI' Majosty's 
Go vernment. In tnking tho administrntion of tllo govermnent of those settlemonts out of 
t he hnnds in whioh it is now placcd, if those chnnges nre mnde whiol' I sugg:ested, tbe 
expense will be inol'ells~cI, ancl n g runt 01'7,000/. in tund of '1,0001. 11 yonr will- be I'c~uisite 
10 COl'ry tho&e change" int.o eflcct. Without these nltc1'l1tions, which I eonscionbo".ly 
l)Oli~ve orc indi f'pcnsnbly roquisite t(w maintaining these fort.s in a wlIy calcula,t.cd to tend 
1.0 ~h? ext.ension or lognl commel'ce nnd Lhe oi\fili ~nLioll of these coul"It.I'ies, J nm of op~ni?n 
Ihnt It w01lld be beAt /01' Mhoa, und best for the IIltere.ts lind tho hono\ll' of Groat l3l'Jtum. 
Lhll.t I.hey . hould be 0 b" ncionod. 
),ondon, ~l July 1811. (signed) R. R. Madden. 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 37 
Appendix, NO.3. 
GOLD COASII'. 
APPEND IX OF REPORT ON TEE WES:FERN COAST OF AFRICA. Commissioner's 
Report. 
CA.) 
GOLD WASil' AND ITS DEPENPENCIES._ page 31 orig. 
CA.) 
THE extensive natLll'e of the inquiries I was instructed to make on various subjects con-
nected with ~be actual condition of our settlements on the Gold Goast, led me to. classify the 
information I was desirous to obtain !from persons on the spot, and best qualified to answer 
- the qu eries put to them, whether on the state of our forts and settlements, and the adminis-
t ration of their government; the mel'chandis.e for the f\ friean markets; th-e slave trade a~d 
its aiders and abett~rs; the prospects and praoticability of emigration to our West 10dIa 
colomes; and tbe sO\l a!ld climate of our settlements on the Westetn Coast of Afnca. 
I thought it most desirable to aet the written answers fa the q~eri e&.. I put to persons o~ 
t hese different subjects. in order tllat no misconstruction of their meaning should OGcur, ?-nd 
aiD mistake in the statement of their opinions. 
The other documents referred to in my Report are 00 the following subjects ;-
}'(·o. Page. No. Page . 
1. Li~t ofP.risoners in Cope Coast Castle :3'7 . 21. Letter from Captain Mnclean, with Answers 
2. Fines imposed Oil Natives, ditto 40 to Queries respecting Slaves and Pa,.WI1S - 51 , 
3. Officers' Sularies, ditto .40 22. List of Bonny T rade British Vel>sels, '110)')-
4 . CoRee Plantation near ditto 41 !luge) &c. . ' - 54 
5 . Distances·of Places in the vicinity of ditto - 41 23. Export from Li ver-pool to Africa, 1839 & 1840 '54 
6. ErV1xGpJocrhtsa nt Vessels arl'i \'ed at ditto - - - 42 24. IIl\'oice of Goods and Stores (or Tnree Yea'rs 7. for 10 years, up to 1841, from ditto 43 for Cape CoasL Castle - 55 
3. I mports - - ditto - - - iou. ditto 43 
9. Description of Goods Imported to ditto 43 25. EC:;tr!:ufu~ *~r~edye:~~ent Of_Cape_Coas~ 59 
i O. Letter from Merchan ts of ditto - - - 43 S! 6. Grnuts for ditto pO 
11 1. Revenue Rnd Resources of ditto 45 27. Lett~rs of Complain t from Soldiers at Cape, 
12. Letter (i'om Ca,ptain Maclean - - - 45 _ Coast Cm,de:"""- - _ - - - _ 60 
13. Ditto f!'OlD Mr. Torp" Commandant at A~cra 46 28. Letter froIp. lVIr. _Brace's Prisoner, whose 
14. Estimate of Cost and Maintenance oC Colo- Wife and Child were field as 'Pawns _ 61 
nial Schooner 4'7 29. Letters from various Prisoners and others 
15. Prnc bmation prohibiting Slave Trade - 4'7 at Cape C03!;t Castle - - 61 
16. Vessels ellgnged In Slave Traae touching at SO. A n Act for levying 'hD Ass~ssmellt for main-
Cape Coa5t - - .... - - - 48 
17. Sir J ohn J eremie's Leiiter to Dr. Mnrlden,on, . _ ~~~~,b:~li:itja a~d for. colle~ting ~ert.ai~ 64-
Slavery on Gold Coast - - - - 48 31. Proclamation of Sir John Jeremie 65 
18. Protest. of Magistrates of Cape COflSt: Castle 
agai9st.Abolition of Slavery - • - - 49 32, Le~~d~rF~c~~~t!:n~~r~:I~~J~sC'o~;t Sla,,~ 66 
19. Reply- to it of Acting Go\'ernorofSierr:l Leone 50 ,35. On the Slave-Trading Factories in the vicinity 
£0, Lew~r from Persons calling themsel\'es Pawns of Lagos, Flo poe, &c. - - - _ 66 
of Captain Maclean - 50 34. On tne Slave Trade in the BightofBia lra 67 
Appendix CA.) 
page 38 orig• 
-No. I. -
LIST of PRISONERS confined for Crime' in Cape Coast Castle, 22 March 1841. 
Remarks and Result 
NAMES. CRIMES. CONFINED. of Commissioner's~ _ 
Examination. 
Yrs. Months. Days. 
H alm robbery :2 3 reJeased. 
Asbum Coffee selling a man at Popoe - 9 
3 Asko forgery, Ashantee palaver 6 
4 Quaw Dooah - - returned convict from 
Appo]onia. 
5 W 6'6 i\'1a nsah crim. con.., Cudjoe's wife - - th e- son of a chief, 
6 QU8shee Arbacah suspicion of murder 11 in his own country, 
7 C-.iuow fvl ensah - - ditto 11 now worked in chains 
S , J ohn Carr r '" .; soldi er letting prisoner 6 like all such p fisoners 
escape. as have no means of 
support. 
9 N obert Occam · stealing gold from Grant 6 13 reJeased~ 
F3 
APPENDIX TO REPORT }<'ROM THE 
Appendix, NO.3. 
Remarks and RC"!;ult 
GOLD COAST. No. NAMES. CRIMES. CONFIN£D. of Commissioner's 
Examination. 
Commissioner's 
Repol'l, y rs. MOn~)s. ~ab~' 
(A.) 10 Cudjo Bray crim. con. 
11 Qun~ino Prah .. robbing DI'. Cobbold 6 '20 
12 Arbam ditto 6 20 
13 Yau - ditto. 
'4 Quashee Tarsah 
15 0110 Aequah • 
16 Quabino Bounce 
17 Quamino Anovin 
18 Quamino Essadoo 
'9 Quamsah Agerafooah murder 
20 Quaeo Quay -
OJ Quaco Assoman 
22 Quaw Mensah -
23 Quaphee Bossomtchie 
24 Quaw Abadoo -
25 Arnacoe • 
26 Quaw Cranfit .. .. - charge of murder ad- 5 22 
mitted. 
27 Quashee Assail running away from Ottoo 6 
28 Quaw Danqua .. stealing a spoon .. 5 - - sentenced. to one 
29 Amooas,ie - .. sacrifiGing people at year's chain. 
Amamfey. 
30 Weeradoo • ditto 
31 D avis robbery, six dollars released. 
32 Quamino Booroe - - ringleader of riot, released. 
Djuquah. 
33 Quabino Veracou -.} ... - necessaries to saCrific-{ 
34 Quaco Yau jog people at Amamfey. 
35 Coffee Amab • - - insulting the king of 
Ashantee. 
36 YIlU lmmoh - ditto 4 
37 Quamino :Mensa ... - forging governor's 3 
name to summons. 
Quashie cheating people in Bush 
Coffee lngoo suspec::ted of murder 
40 ,QuElshee Asuah manufacturing bad gold 9 released . 
41 Name omitted, female suspicion of child murder 1 
ObseJ't'ations (YIl'preceding Cases qf Prisoners co,!finedfw Crime. 
NO.5. Neither the prisoner nor the prosecutor are Brith.h subjects; anel in this case, as in nume-
rous others, the authorities at Cape Coast are made the ministers of retribu r..ion to the barbarous 
ch iefs of adjoining districts. 
No. 28. In the whole 91 cases, this is the only one in the return· list in which any sentence is 
recorded or appears to have been pronounced. 
page orig, LIST of PRISONERS confined for Debt in Cape Coast Castle, 22 March 1841. 39 
Remarks and Result of 
No. Names. Dy whom Confined. How long Confined. Commissivller's 
Examination of lhe Cases. 
YeaTS. Months Days. 
Quow Affado - ... Brown, Swanzy, 6 
and Mrs. Dawson's 
man. 
Mensah ... - - Messrs. T oPt> and 6 relenseu. 
Spinks. 
3 Add.bee · Mrs. Swanzy ... 4 
4 Andee Mr. James Thompson 2 
5 Quamino- MI', Coleeraft 11 
6 Assafoonh Mrs. C. Gl'an 10 
7 Attn Quow Mr. Smith 6 released. 
8 Eccotie- Mr. Brace 6 • - vide note, rele&se 
9 Cudjo Arnpim . Mr. Smith refused. 
]0 Asam Amol'ah - 6 - - to he released on in-
]1 Tawear ... Bartells and Spinks 6 quiry. 
SELECT COMM ITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 39 
Remarks and Result of Appendix, NO.3. 
No. Names. By whom Confined. How long Confined. Commissioners 
"Elamination of the Cases. GOLD COAST. 
Years. Months. Days. Commissioner's 
Report. 
12 Coffee Sawa Boosimachie - 10 
13 Cudjoe Pie Ambah Manos- 10 released. 
(A.) 
14 Coffee Jobern Edonboosa Coo fen tin 9 
15 Quashie Bossumchi Mr. ~tanley 10 
16 Quow Appewoh Confoo Quashie 1 - - to be released on in-
17 Quashie Ballyaconi - - Awoolcoush and 6 quiry. 
E.nness. 
18 J ames Enniss - Divers creditors 0 7 
19 Quabino Illkatea M r. Simons 8 
20 As;atchie - Mrs. Swanzy - 7 15 
21 Quamin Quassie Adoosie - 7 15 - - a case of pawning. 
22 Quaeo AmIo - Quabeno, and otbers - 6 1 The man put in for ao-
other's debt. 
23 Coffee Sarkey • His master, Quagin - 5 
24 John Hooper - J. Johnston 4 
25 Accashna Boe, female Ambah Simoah 5 
26 Quabino Acqu'ie Awoosie - - - to be released on in-
27 Quabino Inkesia - - Dr. Cobbold and 14 qU'iry. 
Cl ewston. 
28 Quamino Haquamacan Mensah Dixcove 14 
29 Cudjo Bouful - - NIr. C.IeWS1.on 4 
30 Quow Daddie - A. Hayan 14 
3 1 Quabino Associah J ohnston - 3 
32 C ucljo Acurah - R obert Occum 6 
33 Quabino rl'1 eosa Abucah -
34 Coffee Affadoo- Mr. De Graft - • - positively denies owing 
35 Quow .M akerry Effuah Botey - 10 anything. 
36 Cudjo Takee • Quaco Taywar - 4 
37 J oho lohnston - Sundry creditors 
-
4 released. 
38 Rakassie· . - Quashafu and Mrs. 4 
Stanley. 
39 Quabino Effoo - Mr. J ackson 4 released. 
40 Accua Joe Ganebah - 3 
41 Quaco 2am Hooper (Constable) -
42 Hendrick Inman Mr. Jones - -
43 John Callcraft - !o.'lr. Hutton 4 
44 Quashie Absawhay Mrs. Stanley refeased. 
45 Quushie Edoo - Amooah and Aggery. 
FE1IALES. 
46 Abnabal Aootchie - - Interhadjuak and 
Chihbo Capn. 
47 H adjuah Mensuah Annal anel Ecoom released . 
48 Hadjuah A Leramah - J ames Thompson dit.to. 
49 Abnabal A-fferabee Hughes and H utton 
ditto. 
50 Effueta A na tive - '4 dit to. 
Observations on preceding Cases of Prisoners confiJledfor D ebt. 
No.8. This case is a most scandalous or:.e of oppression and injustice. The creditor is n mulatto 
mao, Jiving at Dixcove. On incarcerating the man E ccotie, he seized upon h is wi fe and child as 
p1l.wns, and has kept them up to this time in his hand$. . The magistrates a nd council before whom 
I brought this case refused the man's liberation; but .promised to make inquiry into the fac t stated. 
The man says he has been in prison two years and four months, the magistra tes' return says only 
one yea r and a half. 
No. 48. This case is one of great injusti ce. J procured evidence, and pro.ved before the magistrates 
by M r. - - - '5 gold-taker that the poor woman never-owed one farth ing to Mr. ---, but her 
son did, and absconded. On his fl ight the mother was sen t to prison for his debt. T his is the same 
_~'Ir. --- who sold goods to a slave ship. 
1"0.50. The prisoner, a girl of 15, is, by the COnsent of the creditor, imprisoned as a substit ute 
for the mOliler, who is the debtor; this is a very scandalous proceeding. The gir~, who has com-
mitted no crime, is confined in (he same cell with a woman who is charged With murdering a 
ehild. 
R. ll. M. 
· 4 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM TilE 
Appendix, NO.3. 
GOLD COAST. 
- No.2.-
Commissioner's 
Report. FIN ES.-CAPE COAST CASTLE. 
(A.) 
page 40 orig. George Maclean, Esq. President, Cape Coast Castle, in account with the Fund of Fines. 
ISGO, £. I. d. lS39: £. I. d. 
June - SO To fiaes for misdemeanors 3 1 6 June SO By transfer to the public 
R~pt. - SO - ditto ditto- 0-- count 3 1 6 
Dec. - 81 - ditto ditto - 32 Sept. 80 - ditto dilto 9 
Dec. 81 - dino diuo 32 
1840 , - ~i:;~tf °lsh~~t~~~ p~~ ~:~ 
Feb. - I - ditto from Quftshie Ankah, coun t 40 
for attempting to sell slaves 
at Appolonia, which slaves 
wore emancipated by Presi- 1840, 
dent Maclean - Feb. - 9 
March - 5 - - ~:::I}~~:hi~A~~:h!~i~ ~~~~ p~:CI~sfO~ ~ruOsin:!::: account 8 - -
mons 16 - cash paid to Mr. Cruik-
May - 10 - ~~t~~~~i~~o~ba~i~~v~::~ shank for oxpenses incurred by Bim in his expedition 
sioned a man to commit sui- against Mumford people - 13 2 (; 
cide, 40 heads cowlies Qnd June 30 - cash transferred to militia 
1 Oil. gold • - - 9 15 - nccount up to this date 2 6 
July - 15 - ditto imposed u,pon Dawson Aug. 19 - ditto ditto 
(or fighung with Neisor, bis - cash issued as subsistence 
creditor, one long clot h to messengers - 2 15 -
July - 30 - ~~;it~~~o;:~ r~Fu~~g~~%: Sept. SO - 90 heads cowries i$Sued from the store for divers 
mons 2 • - purposes for tbe service of 
August 19 - ditto , received from Pyoims the public 18 - -
of Commenda, for a man - amount of ~oods put into 
accused of having unlaw- the public store - - 4 10 -
fully sold a mao at Elmino. - amollnt of presents to 01-
Fort 3 - - too, Gabra, and Anokie, 
Sepl. _ 20 - ditto imposed upon Quo.sa- chief.<; of Fautee and Assin, 
foo, for breaking into Mr. as per account· 6 6 -
Barnes's warehouse at "Vine- - amounl of pre~ent.~ to the 
bah, 50 hends cowrie.." 10 - - King of Ashantce - o 12 -
Sept. - 29 _ ditto imposed upon A boki for two Dec.3L - cash paid for one silk taf· 3 _ _ riotous conduct, pieces, feti e for flags 
Tom Coffee I 10 - - cash paid for two pieces of 
Oct. - ditto imposed upon tho Py- dack. boug,hl for Accru. gar· 
nims ofa C ommendcalo, thf or re_- rison, when tit ere was none sisting warrant, 2 - - in Ihe store 210 -
Dec. · 16 - diuo received from Carr's cash paid for expenses in 
family aDd Colecrnft, for presents to various chiefs, 
havin g embezzled 0. portion &e. , incurred by the Presi-
of a tent, n present from the dent during his loUr of in· 
British Government for the spceting the out.forts, &c. 
King of Asho.lltce 116 8 <1 with Captain Tuck~r, com_ 
mander of H . M.'s ship 
Wolverine 22 
Bnlance 34 1 4 
213 19 10 213 19 10 
In sterling - t . IS7 5 - In sterling £. IS7 5 -
- No.3. 
OFFICERS' SALARIES . 
£. 
President of the Council G20 
Secretary - - - - 200 
Commandant of the Troops 200 
Surgeon - - - - - 200 
Secretary to the African Committee 200 
Commandant of James Fort, Accra 100 
Incidental expenses in England, such as Treasury warrants, 
postage, stationery, &c. estimated at 20 I. per annum - 20 
£. 1,540 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 
- No.4.- AppendixJ NO. 3. 
QUERIES addressed to Mr. Wilson on the STATE and CONDITION of" NAPOLEON COl'FEll 
PLA NTATIO N," belonging to James Swanzy, Esq. M.C., Cape Coast . GOLD COAST. 
1. The number of acres under cultivation ? - ';I{ e have between 60 and 70 acres. Commissioner's 
2. The number of calfee trees planted ?-3,393 trees. Report. 
3. What number bear?- Nearly 8g0 tre!,s. (A.) 
4 . How do they promise?-Well. ' " , , . 
5, How lS the soil calculated for calfee 1-I consider It good SOlI for calfee In the neIgh- page 41 orig. 
bourhood of Napoleon. -
6 , How is it calculated for cotton ?- At ihis plantation it is well calculated for the growtb. 
of cotton ; about five or ten miles north or north-wes{ from this, 1 should say much better, 
on account of the greater moisture from mOle fres.uent rains. 
7. Have you grown any calfee for sale ?::-None as yet . , 
8 . W hat price did it sell at in the market 1- :r-<01le ~old. . 
9. H ow many do you employ in labour?- Eighty men and twenty boys, 100. 
10, W hat do you pay per diem ?-Twopence halfpenny sterling, paid in cloth. . 
11. Hav.e you any difficulty i ll procuring labourers 1- 1 have_never had any dlfficulty 
myself, and, on the contrary, am frequently oblio-ed to refuse volunteers. 
12. How is the land about Cape Coast calculated for the cultivation of cotton, calfee, Or 
corn ?- Corn will grow even to the edge of the beach, but for cotton it is ill calculated, and 
is still worse for coffee. 
la. Is the want of water very unfavourable here to · cultivation ?- At 'Napoleon sh?wers 
'Of ram are frequent; farther in the bush, in a direction from north to north-west, the chmate 
is much moister, and I consider J hat a plantation of colfee eig~t or twelve _or twenty miles 
from th,s would succeed well. Hay""t t1,;·s from mere hearsay. I have been myself some 
miles round Napoleon, and I have invariably found the soil improve, and a greater quantity 
of rain fall, the farther I went from Cape Coast. 
Near and at Cape Coast the want of rain is severely felt as regards the cultivation of the 
soil for vegetahles, &c. 
Besides the 3,393 calfee trees already planted out, I have upwards of 20,000 seeds set, 
which will probably produce (should the season be favourable) 12,000 plants, which will be 
ready to transplant by September next. 
The coffee trees in bearing consist of 600 fbur years old, and about 200 two years old. 
The former bear twice in 16 months. This is the first crop from the latter. 
(signed) 1'1, C. Wilson, P lantation Manager. 
- No. 5. -
DISTANCEs.-Time of Travelling from Appolonia to Cape Coast Castle by Hammock, 
at 3l; Miles per Hour. ' _ . 
HRs.. ?lIIN. HRS. MIN. ~l 
From Appolonia to Axim 8 0 
Axim to Dixcove - 7 35 
Dixcove to Boutrie (Dutch) - 1 5 
Boutrie to Taccorary (Dutch) - - ~ 4 30 
Taccorary to Succondee (English and Dutch) 10 
Succondee to Chamah (English and Dutch) 2 30 
Chamah to Commend",h 3 
Commendah to E lmina (Dutch) 2 2°5  
Elmina to Cape Coast Castle 2 o 
From Appolonia to Cape Coast Castle 32 25 
From Accra to Cape Coast Castle at the same rate of travelling. 
" Laccoom River - - - - 2 
Fetlah 5 20 
Berracoo (Dutch) 6 30 
Winnebah 9 10 
9 10 
Winnebah to Manguadie 20 
Assam (Dutch) - 2 15 
Mumford - 3 7 
Lagoo 4 12 
" Tantum 4 40 ------ 4 40 
'ranlum to Anaguah 3 
Anamaboe 6 o°  
Cape Coast Castle 9 15 
9 15 
Distance from Accra to Cape Coast Castle - 23 Ii 
" Appolonia to Cape Coast Castle 32 25 
Appolonia to Accra - !iii 30 
G 
4'1 APPJrnDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
A ppendix, NO.3. 
Time of Travelling by Hammock from Anamaboe to Coomassie, the Capital of Ashantee, 
GOLD CUAST. by Hammock. 
Conlmissioner's 
llepor!. 
(A.) HRS. MIN. HRS . MIN. 
From Anamaboe to Yancoomassie 6 37 
page 42 orig. Yancoomassie to Manpul 4 28 
Mansul to Foosue 5 ' 43 
Foosue to River Prah 6 44 
Prah fa Appaygab - 3 3 
Appay~ab to Accasaben 9 0 
Accasa en to Chisah - 2 41 
Chisah to Amarfool 5 30 
Amarfool to Carsee - 6 40 
Cal'see to Coomassie - 2 0 
Total distance from Anamaboe to Coomassie 54 26 
Time of travelling from Anamaboe to Quow At tahcroom in Akim. 
From Anamaboe to Akinfoo 1 30 
Akinfoo to Mancassiill 4 o 
Mancassim to Incudgoe 2 50 
Intludgoe to Ad j umacon 2 II 
Adjumacon to Essacoomeh 6 o 
Essacoomeh to Quow AUah's Croom - 8 o 
Time of travelling from Anamaboe to Akim 24 
-No.6.-
LIST of BRITISH MERCHANT VESSELS arrived at Cape Coast Castle, for the Year 1840. 
DATE I DATE NAME OF VESSEL. NAME OF VESSEL. 
OF ARRIVAL. OF ARRIVAL. 
]840 : 1840 : 
5 January George Canning, brig. 23 April P. H. Dean, scbooner. 
8 IVlary Jane, bl'ig. 16 May Ranavalla Manja.a, schooner. 
11 Prince Oscar, cutter. II June Matchless, scbooner. 
]3 Osborne, brig. 24 - Catherine Boland, schooner. 
15 Margaret, brig. 10 July Tom Cod, brigantine. 
21 Jack , brig. 1Septembe, Englishman, brig. 
23 Intrepido, brig. S - Edward Colston, brig. 
:> February Sea Bird, brig. 15 - Robert Headle. barque. 
]3 Governor Maclean, brig. 5 December Delos, schooner. 
4 March St. Geerge, brig. 7 Union, brig. 
4 African, brig. _ ]:i Sarah Fleming, brig. 
10 Killermont, schgoner ~ )9 Golden Spring, barque. 
10 Etbiope, steam-packet. 19 Medora, schooner. 
]6 Ghika, schooner. 26 Sea Witch, brig. 
16 Pitt, schooner. Men-of-war: 
16 Corcyra, brig. 27 January H.M.'sS. Wolverine. 
30 Robel't~ brig. 10 February Viper. 
31 Guiana, brig. ]0 Blizzard. 
31 Inglewood, brig. 10 Melville. 
5 Aplil General BrOCK, brig. 15 April Harlequin. 
]2 Jersey Tar, schooner. 20 June Persian. 
20 John Cabot, brig. 25 August Forester. 
21 Dolphin, bligantine. , 9 December Cyrnet. 
21 Queen Vlctona, polacca bng. 16 Do pbin. 
22 Corrigo, barque. 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 43 
- No. 7. - -No. 8.-
EXPORTS Cape Coast Castle for 10 Years. I MPORTS Cape Coast Castle for 1 0 Years. 
Abs~ract ofE?<ports Cape Ooast Castle, from 1 Janu- A.bstract of Imports Cape Coast Castle, from 1 Jttnu· 
ary 1831 to 3 1 December 1840. aTY 1831 to 3 1 D ecember 1840. 
Half year £. s. d. £. s. d. II alf year £. s. d. ending £. s. d. ending 
30th June 1S31 78,818 9 6 30th June J831 1 \8,56 1 5~ 
3 1St Dec. 1831 11,46+ - - 3 1St Dec. 1831 1 2,~S9 15 6 
- - --- 9°,282 9 G 
30th June 1832 87,654 - - 30th JUlle 1832 \ 89,428 ~
31st Dec. 1832 93,45° - - 31st Dec. 1832 98,638 7 1 
----- 18 1 , 104 - - ----- 188,067 7 -
30th June 1833 43,735 10 - 30th June 1833 1 75,677 12 4 
31st Dec. 1833 80,4 12 - - 31St Dec. 1833 75:762 - -
124, 147 10 - -------
30th June 1834 106,6 15 - - 30th June 1834 89,730 
3 1St Dec. 1834 76 , 1 22- - - 31st Dec. 1834 91,483 5 
182,73i - - 181,263 5 7 
30th June 1835 63,109 10 - :loth June 1835 7 2,673 9 
31St Dec.- , 835 108,596 - 3 31St Dec. 1835 l O;h3 12 
----- 171 ,705 10 3 ------ 175,985 3 9 
30th June 1836 105,778 - - 30th June 1836 10 4,'259 - -
3, st Dec. 1836 69,°54 - - 31St Dec. 1836 138.764 - -
'14,8~2 - - ----- 243,023 
30th June 1837 66, \87 - - 30th June 1837 181,720 - -
31st D ec. 1837 56,516 - - - 31St Dec. 1837 83,270 - -
122,70 3 - - ------- 264,990 - -
30th June \ 838 57,756 \ 5 7 30th June 1838 85,795 - -
31st Dec. 1838 66,450 JO - 31st Dec. 1838 73,6 10 - -
----- 124,207 5 7 - ---- 159,4°5 
30th June 1839 87,929 '4 J 30th June 1839 15 6 ,000 - -
31st Dec. 1839 106,647 5 - 31St Dec. 1839 198,460 - -
194,576 19 1 ------ 354,460 
30th June 1840 169,008 - - 30th June 1840 208,470 . - -
31st Dec. 1840 166,000 - - 31st Dec. 1840 2 14,700 - -
32 5,008 - - ------- 42 3,170 - -
--- --
£. 1,691,303 14 5 
-No. 9 . - Appendix, NO.3' 
GOLD COAST. 
D ESCR IPTION of GOODS generally Imported into the BRITISH SETTLEMENTS Oil the 
GOLD COAST. Commissioner's 
Manchester Goods. Iron Bars. Soap. Report. 
Powder. Hardware. Flints. (A.) 
R um. Glassware. Tallow. pages 439'" 44 
Beads. Earthen,vare. Wines. orig. 
Pipes. Brassware. Provisions. 
Tobacco. Cowries. Perfumery. 
Lead Bars. 
- No. 10. -
page 45 orig. 
Sir, Cape Coast, 24 October 1840. 
WE take tbe liberty to band for your perusal the accompanying letter to the Committee 
in London, wlJich we shall feel obliged b y your forwarding per first opportunity with all the 
support you d n afford It. 
The facto:; stated and the evils resultino- from them cannot have failed in some measure to 
have attracted your notice, and you ha~e doubtless been surprised at our supineness in so 
long silently submitting to them. This has occulTed from our disinclination to interrupt 
the course of established customs, and not being fully aware of the magnitude of the mis-
chief; but finding, on inquirYl it bas increased to that degree as seriously to endanger our 
interests. and render the British commerce but of secondary consideration in amount and 
extent in its own colony, we have been induced, from tilis state of things, to address the 
letter (0 the Committee alluded to above: and conceiving also, in which we trust that you 
will agree with us, that some immediate steps are lmperioUl:;ly called for, we be~ to submit, 
for the consideration of yourself and Council, if you have not the powers to restram foreign.ers 
551. G 2 owmg 
44 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, NO. 3. owing no allegiance to the British flag from establishing factories on ~hore for the disposal 
of the foreign produce they have introduced into the colony, to the Injury and opposition of 
GOLD COAST. the B.itish merchants. 
We belli also to suggest, in support of the above, and as a precautionary measure until 
Commissioner's some deCIsion is obtained from home, that all foreign vessels be restncted of whole and 
Report. original paGka~es, against which, we conceive, tQe"t-e can be no possible o~j~ction, unleRs by 
(A.) those who, wiShing to avoid the just and open road, may have more faclhtles for pursuing 
th~t clandestine course which has in part led to the injuries now complained of; and further, 
we take leave to propose, instead of the present system o£ general permits, which we fear 
has been the cause of much irregularity, that for the future speCial permits only will be 
granted, and in aid of the expense of the same that an office-fee of 1 s. 3d. be required and 
received for every permit issued. 
We have, &c. 
(signea) J. J ac'Rson, James Thompson, Samuel Bannerman, 
J ames Swanzy, H. Smyth, William Edward Gedge, 
W. Topp, J. Topp, J. Bannerman, 
F. Swanzy, G. Hutton, Joltn Marmon, 
B rodie Cruikshank) William Cobbold, J. W. Hanson, 
J. CIOWlton, Henry Barnes, George Smyth. 
W. E. Stanley, 
To George M .cleau, Esq. 
'President of the Council, Cape Coast. 
Enclosure in No. 10. 
Gentlem~n, Cape Coast, 24 October 1840. 
TH E injUlious effects of the present rules of the port of Cape Coast upon the British trade 
in general, and particularly to the interests of the undersigned resident British merchants 
upon the Gold Coast, have induced us to introduce the subject to your notice, in the hope 
it will meet your kind consideration, and find that remedy which, upon inquiry, the case may 
seem to req ui reo 
By the existino' regulations a duty of half pel' cent. upon the invoice amount of such goods 
as may be landed, without any digtinction of flag, is the only impost upon the commerce of 
the place; and in consequence of this un]lrotectetl state of the British merchants, foreigners 
have been encouraged to import large quantities of merchandise at a lower rate than we can 
do from England, thus excluding us from our own markets, and taking from our vessels 
their return freights, without which it is impossible to find carriers for our goods. We 
instance the case of the" Govern0f Maclean" twice, and the C( Jack" and" Jersey Tar'" 
each once, within the last six months, having brought goods out and not being able to 
obtain cargoes in return, but put to heavy expense in the ballast; while at the same time 
the American brigs H Oregan," ., Cipher," H Sarah Anne," "Hope," and" Pamelia," have 
within the last five months brought into the place and disposed of, retail as well as whole-
sale, besides other goods, five car~oes of rum. The Prussian ship "Catherina" at the same 
time, came with 1 0,000 ca~es of (Jerman gin, and the Belgian ship" Independence" witli a 
full cargo of Brazilian acquadente, and the French ship" Marabout," besides other goods, 
a cargo of Brazilian acquadente and tobacco, and now going back to Bahia for anotber, to 
retnrn in four months. And the Hamburg brig cc Herald," besides a very valuabl~ and 
generdl cargo, had one item in his invoice, cl twenty thousand" dollars' worth of one parti-
cular description of Venetian beads, b,oug;ht all to orders given him on his last voyage. 
------- . The French ship" Le Singe" had similar orders for the same description of beads, 
page 46 orig. SIlks, &c. 
These are some of Ihe evils we are laboUling UDder that we earnestly beg to call your 
attention to. 
Our correspondents at home have doubtless within the last year 01' two experienced a 
diminution in the amount of their business, which is to be attributed solely to the causes we 
have here described. 
To protEct US for the future against these hardships we wish to find support, for it cannot 
be supposed that a foreigneJ'1 a sojourner of a few weeks in the place to gather his gains 
only, should have a decided advantage over the permanent sett ler, whose interests are linked 
with the welfare of the colony, who is put to the cost of maintaining expensive establish-
ments, who contributes his means to the improvement of the place and people, and other 
local expenses the stranger is not liable to, and wbo, besides, after staying to deprive us of 
a fair portion of our rights, should a war or any disturbance occur, would tie up his bundle 
and be off', leaving us to defend as we could our empty purses and crowded stores; in fact, 
can the foreigner, owing no allegiance to the British flag, locate himself among us for a 
short period, as may suit his interests or convenience, to oppose our commerce by the intro-
duction of foreign produce? . 
Against a part of the evil a remedy exists, we believe, in the navigation and reciprOCity 
laws, which, besi.Jes prohibiting the importation into a British colony of some foreign ~oods, 
as gunpowder, arm.s, rum, &c. restricts the importation of others except under the flag ,of 
which said goods are the growth 01' manufacture, or under the British flag; thus, not ad~lt. 
tmg 
SELECT COMMFTEE ON WEST COAST OF AFRICA. 45 
ling Bra~ilian acquadente in a Belgian or French bottom; indeed, not admi tting it at all. Appendix, NO. 3. 
Query, will they admit our vessels at Senegal? did they leave us quiet at Portenrlick? and 
to enter a Brazilian or Portuguese port the cost to our vessels is about 20 per cent. on the GOLD COAST. 
invoice. 
Against the general case we conceive we have some remedy in the colonial laws of Sierra Commissioner's 
Leone, which, though owing chiefly to the near neighbouDhood of the Dutch and Danes, are Report. 
not applicabl e in all instances to tbis place, would in some, no doubt, prove beneficial. (A.) 
The foreign and transient duties which were once in force here it would be well, we think, 
again to re"'ive on a reduced scale, say five per cent. in addition to the half pel' cent. now 
levied on the invoice amount of all S"0ods landed from foreign vessels, and a transient duty 
of two and a half per cent. in addition to the half per cent. now levied upon the invoice 
amount of all goods landed by such parties wbo bave not been 12 months resident in the 
colony, or who do not at the time possess colonial property in land or houses to the 
amount of 400 I. 
Having thus submitted a fair stateII;lent of facts, and our opinions of the remedies we 
would gladly see adopted, we beg to leave the case in your hands, as tbe proper channel 
for presentation to t he Colonial Office, earnestly soliciting your strenuous endeavours to' 
obtain th e obj ect of our prayer, either in the form we have suggested, or any other which 
may afford us equal protection without throwing too decided an advantage into the hands 
of our neighbours and strong opponents the Dutch and Danes . 
We have, &c . 
. J~ Jac1<son, J. Thomson, S . B annerman, 
J . Swanzy, H . Smith, W. E. Gedge, 
W. Topp, J. Topp, J. B annerman. 
B. Cruimhank, George Hutton, J . Marmon, 
F. Swanzy, W. W. Cobbold, J . H. Hanson, 
J . Clou.ston, :fI. Barnes, George Smitll" 
W. E. Stanley, 
-No. ll . -
R E T U RN of R EVENUE and R ESOURCES of Cape Coast Castle and its Dependencies, for 
the T hree Years ending the 30th September 1840. 
£. 
1837- 8. P arliamentary grant 3,500 
1838- 9 3,500 
1839- 40 3,750 
NOT E.-On the 22d of April last an Act came into operation authorising the levying of 
an ad valorem duty of one half per cent. on an goods and merchandise landed at the several 
forts.; but of these no com plete returns can as yet be given, no retul'llS having been received 
from the out· forts, and the duties due by the resident merchant. being only payable on the 
30th of June and 31st of December of each year. 
The produce of this duty is solely applicable to the maintenance of a militia force at 
each of the stations. 
- No. 12. -
page 47 orig. 
Sir, Cape Coast CasHe, 26 March 1841. 
I H AVE the honour to transmit herewith the series of queries which yon handed to me 
on ¥our arriv~l at Cape C~ast Castle, with my answers annexed. These answers are accom-
pamed by vanous returns mtended to elucidate the several subjects treated of. 
I would also beg leave to recapitulate brieHy t he various points to which I have had the 
honour to call your attention, in conversation, during your residence here. 
1. The urgent necessity which exists for the renewal of a great portion of the iron ord-
nance 10 t ~1e seve1Cl;l \orts, and f?r ,ou.1' being supplied with ordnance, engineer, and military 
stores, WhlC h our hnntecl grant IS madequate to furnish. 
2. The necessity of an additional medical officer and an assistant secretary being allowed 
to this establishmen t . 
. 3. The expediency ~f what are termed" the abandoned forts" being re-occupied, espe. 
clan y that at Appoloma. 
4. The great benefit that would result from our being enabled to place the schools on a 
more efficient footing, and to establish additional ones. 
551. G 3 6. Th. 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE 
Appendix, No.'a. 6. The necessity of abolishing the present system of paying soldiers and others in goods. 
GOLD COAST. ,6. The expediency of furnishing means for the better classification and employment of 
prisoners. 
Commissioner's 
neport. 7, Tile expediency of an armed vessel being attached to the settlements. 
(A,), 8. The netessity for dc-fining, by explicit instructions, the powers of the authorities with 
regard to slaves and pawns, among the l\a"tive population. 
I need not say thab, situated as this colony is. intersected by foreign settlemcnts, and 
ifo)terwDven as domestic, slavery is with the very framework of society, this is matter which 
must be handled with great prudence and caution. By prudence, however, much may be 
effected. and by the progl'ess of civilisation, which is now in active operation, much more 
will be done. Anxious" however, as I am to c.arry irl~o effect the vi~ws of Her Majesty's 
Government, I . hall faLthfully follow whatever lLlstructLons on the subject may be furnished 
to me. 
O. The incalculable benefits that would result, both in a commercial point of view, and as 
, . means of extirpating the slave trade, and extending civilisation, from the settlements 
referred to, &0. 
I also beg leave to furnish you with copies of two letters, one addre. .e d to the African 
Committee, the other to myself, on the subject of foreign vessels being allowed to trade at 
our ports on the same terms as British vessels. 
Your information will enable you (0 judge of the expediency of the views expressed in 
the former of those documents being adopted and acted upon. 
I have, &c. 
R. R , Madden, Esq. M. D, (si(l;!led) George Ma~lean, 
Hcr Majesty'. Commissioner of Inquiry, President of the Council of Government. 
&c. &c. &c. 
-No. 13.-
EXTRilCT of a LETTER from British Commandant at Accra, 
Sir, James Fort, British Accra. 6 March 184l. 
I WAS ravoured with your communication of \iVednesday, accompauied with a series of 
questions. respecting (he forts under my command. The questions I herewith return 
answered as well as I could fi'om expelience and general information received while resi-
dent on the coast. 
There are three other Danish forts h ere besides Christians borg ; Ningoe. about 30 miles 
to leewal'd of Illis; Addah, on the western bank of the Volta; and Q\LLttah, a few miles to 
leeward of the Volta, on the banks; of a large lagoon which runs aloug the const there, and 
communicates with the ri,ler; but they command the whole influence of that part of the 
coast, excepting the Engl itih town of Pram Pram. These out-forts must be in a bad state 
of repair, and some of them in ruins, from no Europeans being stationed at them for some 
time back . Chl'istinnsbol'g Castle is rather an imposing building, but does not covel' a 
great extent of g'L'oLLnd. it is in a middling state of repair, I could give no idea of its 
strength, never having examined it closely. It mounts 60 or 70 guns. 
Other forts j oined to the present establishment would form a barrier of defence against 
the slave trade on t.hat part of the coast, and would extend t.he British trade, in my opinion, 
enough to remunerate the country for the expense of keeping them up; besides, they might 
be extended as far as Why doh, the great slave mart, at which place there is still the ruins of 
It British tort. 
I trust Ihe British Government may be induced to take this into consideration: the great 
page 48 orig. advantages to aCCFue from possession of such a consiuerable extent of coast and inIUlld 
territory; besides that it would be a sure means of breaking up many of what are now 
thriving and extensive slave factories; also in g:etting the extended menns of introducing 
civilisation into the country; and the cost ""Qu Id, I imagine, be small compared with the 
sums now expending for the suppression of the slave trade and the extension of civilisation. 
I crave your indulgence to any mistakes 1 may have made in answering the questions, 
Aud have, &c. 
R. R .. Madden, Esq. M. D. (signed) Js. Topp. 
&c. &c, &c.