This Branch Of Commerce Answering, The Bristol Merchants
Sent Their Factors Thither From Spain.
The coast of Africa was, at this
period, monopolized by the Portuguese.
In 1530, however, an English ship
made a voyage to Guinea for elephants' teeth: the voyage was repeated; and
in 1536, above one hundred pounds weight of gold dust, besides elephants'
teeth, was imported in one ship. A few years afterwards, a trade was opened
with the Mediterranean coast of Africa, three ships sailing from Bristol to
Barbary with linens, woollen cloth, coral, amber, and jet; and bringing
back sugar, dates, almonds, and molasses. The voyages to Guinea from the
ports of the south and southwest of England, particularly Portsmouth,
Plymouth, and Bristol, were frequently repeated: the returns were uniformly
gold dust and elephants' teeth. But it does not appear that other ports
followed the example of these, that these sent many ships, or that the
commerce became very regular and lucrative, till the west coast of Africa
was resorted to for slaves.
This infamous trade was first entered upon by the English in the year 1562.
Mr. John Hawkins, with several other merchants, having learnt that negroes
were a good commodity in Hispaniola, fitted out three ships, the largest
120, the smallest forty tons, for the coast of Guinea. Here they bought
slaves, which they sold in Hispaniola for hides, sugar, ginger, and pearls.
The other branches of the African trade continued to flourish. In 1577,
English merchants were settled in Morocco; Spanish, Portuguese, and French
merchants had been settled there before. In this year, Elizabeth, always
attentive to whatever would benefit commerce, sent an ambassador to the
Emperor of Morocco, who obtained some commercial privileges for the
English. In 1588, the first voyage to Benin was made from London, by a ship
and a pinnace: in 1590, a second voyage was made from the same port with
the same vessels. Their exports were linen, woollen cloths, iron
manufactures, bracelets of copper, glass beads, coral, hawks' bells,
horses' tails, hats, &c. They imported Guinea pepper, elephants' teeth,
palm oil, cotton cloth, and cloth made of the bark of trees.
An African Company had been formed in Elizabeth's reign; but neither this,
nor two others succeeded; their ruin was occasioned by war, misconduct, and
the interference of what were called interlopers. In 1672, a fourth company
was established, whose efforts at first seem to have been great and
successful. They bought the forts the former companies had erected on the
west coast: instead of making up their assortments of goods for export in
Holland, as the former companies had been obliged to do, they introduced
into England the making of sundry kinds of woollen goods not previously
manufactured. They imported large quantities of gold dust, out of which
50,000 guineas were first coined in one year, 1673. Their other imports
were red wood for dyes, elephants' teeth, wax, honey, &c. The value of the
English goods exported to them averaged annually 70,000_l_. This
company was broken up at the Revolution.
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