[165] C. O. 1: 23, f. 1, petition of the Royal Adventurers (July 3), 1668; P. C. R., Charles II, 7: 374, July 3, 1668.
[166] P. C. R., 7: 378, July 8, 1668. The minutes of the general court for November 14, 1668, mention a letter intended to be dispatched to Sir William Temple. A. C. R., 75: 81.
[167] A. C. R., 100: 47, 48.
[168] ibid., 75: 96.
[169] C. O. 1: 25, f. 227, estimate of charges for supplies at Cape Corse, December 19, 1670; A. C. R., 75: 106, 107.
[170] Foreign Entry Book, 176, minutes of the foreign committee, January 22, 1671/2.
CHAPTER IV
The Royal Adventurers and the Plantations
The early trade of the English to the coast of Africa was very largely in exchange for products which could be sold in England. Among these may be mentioned elephants' teeth, wax, malaguetta and gold. As has been shown, the hope of discovering gold mines was the principal cause of the first expedition sent to Africa by the Royal Adventurers in December, 1660. When this scheme to mine gold was abandoned the company's agents traded for gold which was brought down from the interior or washed out by the slow and laborious toil of the natives. The other African products, especially elephants' teeth, were brought to London where they sold quite readily for very good prices.