Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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Until The Year 1827, The Island Lay Forsaken And Neglected In Its
Primitive Condition, Neither The Portuguese Nor Spaniards Having
Thought It Worth Their Consideration.
At length, the attention of the
British government was directed to it, in consequence of its
favourable position for putting a stop to the slave trade in that
quarter of Africa.
Situated within a few hours sail of the coast, in
the immediate vicinity of those rivers, commencing with the Camaroons
on the east, and extending along the whole of the Gold Coast, where
the principal outlets of this unlawful traffic are found, Fernando Po
presented advantages, which were sufficient to authorize a settlement
being formed on it, and Captain W. Owen sailed from England for that
purpose, in his majesty's ship Eden, with the appointment of
governor, and with Commander Harrison under his orders. Captain Owen
had been previously employed on an extensive and difficult survey of
the coasts of Africa, both in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, in
which the shores of this island were included, and therefore, having
visited it before, he was no stranger either to its nature and
resources, or to the climate in which it is situated. Previously to
the arrival of Captain Owen, the island had been occasionally visited
by some of the ships on the African station, for the purpose of
obtaining supplies of vegetables and water, and perhaps now and then
a Liverpool trader would be seen there waiting for palm oil, or
recovering the health of her crew from fevers obtained in the rivers
on the coast. As the natives reside some distance in the interior,
the arrival of a ship of war at the island, was announced to them by
the discharge of a cannon on board, which was sufficient to bring
them to the sea side, with whatever vegetables, poultry, and other
articles they might wish to sell. The articles mostly demanded by
them in return, were pieces of iron-hoop, knives, and nails. At
first, a piece of iron-hoop about six inches long, would purchase a
pair of fowls or four yams, so great was the value which the natives
attached to iron.
The business of forming a new settlement, is a species of service
that requires the exercise of certain qualities of the mind, which it
is not the good fortune of every one to possess. In addition to the
pernicious effects of the climate on European constitutions, there
were people on the island, who, although they might be unable to
offer any serious impediment to the progress of the settlement, it
was necessary to conciliate than treat them with hostility, and for
this, no one could have been better calculated than Captain Owen.
Whatever may have induced him to relinquish the appointment of
governor, no measures for gaining the friendship of the natives, and
thereby securing their good will towards the colony, could have been
better than those which he adopted, and the chiefs even now
frequently mention his name.
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