N.B. The case alluded to, in the last of the above replies, was, in the first instance, papular eruption; the base of each papula being surrounded by an inflamed ring; the eruption was thickest on the thorax, and on the arms; in its progress, the eruption became pustular, the pustules being in circumference about half the usual size of the vaccine vesicle; on the twelfth day, the crusts had dropped from some of the smaller pustules; and, by the seventeenth day, they had all dropped off, leaving a mark, but not in any manner pitted; and which, I think, promises to be permanent.
W.F.
Thursday, October 4th, 1827.—At length the day arrived when I was to quit Sierra Leone, and I might say with some regret; for, during my residence there, I had been very hospitably and agreeably entertained by the principal government officers, as well as by several of the most respectable merchants; and I had found a sufficient variety of objects of interest, to yield ample occupation for the mind. I could have desired to remain sometime longer, particularly as the fine weather, and what is called the healthy season, was fast coming on, which would have afforded me more time to examine and reflect on what was of interest to the colony as well as to the mother country; but I was conscious of a feeling of still deeper regret, and of a different character from that of mere curiosity;—it was the pain of parting from those whose kind sympathy had led them to take more than a common interest in my pursuits, and to whose friendly and constant attentions I was indebted for the advantages I enjoyed while I remained in the colony.
The apprehension, too, which was afterwards fatally realized, that many of us should never meet again, was calculated to embitter my leave-taking, even more poignantly. Of the friends who were then around me at Sierra Leone, the greater number are now no more; the principal persons amongst whom are the following: Colonels Lumley and Denham; Mr. K. Macauley (member of council); Mr. Barber, Mr. Leavers, Mr. Reffel (acting judge), Mr. Magnus (clerk of the court), Lieutenant Green, R.A.C., and several gentlemen volunteers of the same corps.
At daylight in the morning, just as the ship was preparing to get her anchors up, a heavy tornado came on, and the rain continued for some hours after the violence of the wind had subsided. Notwithstanding the rain, however, Colonel Lumley, the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, and his private secretary. Lieutenant McLean, R.A.C., came on board at eight o'clock for a passage to Cape Coast, where the Lieutenant-Governor was going for the purpose of delivering the fortress of Cape Coast Castle into the hands of the British merchants, who were to take possession of it with a militia force, which they were permitted to organize for their own protection: the Government allowing them a stipulated sum to support the necessary establishment, at the same time withdrawing the troops of the Royal African Corps, and all the government stores, part of which were to be sent to Fernando Po, and the rest to Sierra Leone or England.
At ten o'clock we got under weigh, and made sail out of Sierra Leone harbour. The Horatio, a schooner, which Captain Owen had purchased to take provisions, mechanics and labourers to Fernando Po, was to have sailed in company with us, but from some unaccountable delay, she did not join us till we got to Cape Coast.[[18] ] At noon, Cape Sierra Leone bore E. ½ S. distance seven miles; and the Banana Islands S. ½ E. The afternoon cleared up, and the wind was very light. From Sierra Leone to Cape St. Ann, the course is S. 57°. E. distance 86 miles. From Cape St. Ann to Cape Mesurada the course is S. 60 degrees E. distance 123 miles.
[ CHAPTER V. ]
Cape St. Ann—Dangerous Shoals—Old Sailors—Liberia—Origin and History of the Colony—Failure at Sherbro Island—Experiment at Liberia— Difficulties Encountered by the Settlers—Differences with the Natives— Final Adjustment—Improving State of the Colony—Laws and Morals— Remarks on Colonization
Friday, October 5th.—There was a moderate breeze from the westward, and fine weather. At eight o'clock, finding, by our calculation, that we had rounded the shoals of Cape St. Ann, we altered our course more towards the land, intending to run along the Gold Coast, within sight of the shore. These shoals are the most dangerous part of the west coast of Africa; and there is good reason to believe that many vessels have been wrecked on them, particularly in former times. There is but little doubt that H.M. (late) ship Redwing was lost here, for there has been no trace of her since the day she sailed from Sierra Leone, (the afternoon of which was very squally) excepting a small mast that was picked up on the coast, to the northward, with her name on it; and as she was bound from Sierra Leone to Accra, she had occasion to go round these shoals, which commence about 30 miles from Cape Sierra Leone. But there is an additional cause for apprehending that such was her fate, for I was informed by an officer, that he heard Captain Clavering say, that he did not believe in the existence of these shoals; it is not improbable, therefore, that, with an idea of shortening his passage, he might have attempted to have gone nearer to them than prudence would justify, and thus tempted the danger which he held to be apocryphal. They might also have neglected to sound sufficiently often, an error which I have frequently witnessed, and which arises from a mistaken wish to save trouble and time—a poor excuse for risking the loss of lives and property. I am sure this will not be the case with Captain Owen, for I believe he knows the ground under water where his ship is in soundings, as well as that which he sees above it; and among the jokes of the crew of his ship, there was one on his late surveying voyage, uttered by an old sailor, who said, that as soon as he was paid off, he would set up a public-house in Wapping, with the sign of The Bag and Nippers,[[19] ] and the words "Watch, there, watch!" written underneath. Notwithstanding this poor fellow's joke, he entered a second time with Captain Owen, on board the Eden, for an equally hazardous voyage, which he did not survive. I was near him in his last moments, when the fatal signal of ebbing life—the rattles in the throat—fell on the ear like the melancholy sound of the muffled drum in a dead march.
Sunday, 7th.—Light airs and variable, with rain at times. Cape Mesurada in sight great part of the day. Under the eastern side of this Cape is the American settlement of Liberia. The origin and progress of this colony present so many points of interest, that I am induced to lay before my readers a succinct account of its early history. I am chiefly indebted for the materials of this sketch to a pamphlet, which I procured in Sierra Leone, published a short time before in Washington.