At the coast all kinds of European goods are given in barter for the oil in a crude form. This crude oil is then melted and stored in sheds, ready for transportation.
The oil rivers, as far as Rio del Rey, are controlled by the British. The Cameroons coast has been ceded to Germany.
CHAPTER XLIX.
LOWER GUINEA.
Southern, or Lower Guinea, begins at the equator. It is generally understood to include the maritime coast line of West Africa. For about fifteen hundred miles it extends in a north and south direction from the head of the Bight of Biafra to Cape Frio.
On the northern part of the coast, out from the high peaks of the Cameroons, which stand on a peninsula of the mainland, are four volcanic islands in line.
The largest of these is Fernando Po, which belongs to Spain. Its perfectly conical summit, which rises to an elevation of over ten thousand feet, is wooded completely over. Its harbor of Clarence Cove is one of the most picturesque points in West Africa. At one time it was a place of banishment for political offenders from Spain.
Prince's Island, which has been compared to a volcanic garden, and St. Thomas, beyond it, whose lofty peak rises over seven thousand feet above the sea, belong to Portugal. The little rugged island of Annobon, which is the last of the chain, belongs to Spain.