Africa . a very high idea ofthe genius of the English for colonisation. The principal place on the peninsula is Freetown, ona hill above which the Government house is pleasantlysituated. The barracks lie still higher, but the merchantsprefer to live in the town or its outskirts. Almost everyhouse has its garden, in which the delicious avocada pear,orange, citron, pomegranate, mango, banana, cocoa-nut,pine-apple, and various other fruits are grown. Ginger,pepper, arrowroot, coffee, rice, palm-oil, and many othervaluable products, are capable of large cultivation in thecolony; but the tillage of
Africa . a very high idea ofthe genius of the English for colonisation. The principal place on the peninsula is Freetown, ona hill above which the Government house is pleasantlysituated. The barracks lie still higher, but the merchantsprefer to live in the town or its outskirts. Almost everyhouse has its garden, in which the delicious avocada pear,orange, citron, pomegranate, mango, banana, cocoa-nut,pine-apple, and various other fruits are grown. Ginger,pepper, arrowroot, coffee, rice, palm-oil, and many othervaluable products, are capable of large cultivation in thecolony; but the tillage of the land is the last resource ofthe people, who, if they can, lead a perfectly indolent of vagabond loafers abound everywhere. Owingmainly to the want of drainage, a foul malarious fog, THE GUINEA COAST. 123 drawn up by the fiercely shining sun, spreads over thelowlands after heavy rains, breeding fever and death tosuch an extent as to have given Sierra Leone the name of the white mans FREETOWN. Sherboro Island and portions of the banks of thenavigable Sherboro river 50 miles southward of SierraLeone belong to the colony. There are five Europeanfactories on the banks of the Sherboro, each with itsstorehouses for palm kernels, palm oil in casks, and that the negro heart can fancy is sent outto barter, and powder to devastate neighbouring tribesis a favourite medium of exchange, though towards Euro-peans the tribes of the Sherboro are peacefully disposed. 124 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. The projected exchange of the English settlements onthe Gambia for the isolated French settlements betweenthat river and Sierra Leone, which might have the effectof consolidating the English possessions on the westcoast of Africa, and rendering the administration easier,has not yet been carried out, nor is it very likely to berealised. The British settlements in question havecertainly a population of only about 15,000, almostexclusively Negroes, but the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeaneaha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1878
