or Bulama, as it is more usually called, forms part of the Archipelago, or cluster of islands, lying on the western or windward coast of Africa, and known by the name of the Bissagos or Bissagos, which are supposed to have been celebrated by the ancients under the appellation of the Hesperides. It is situated at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in 11° N. Lat. and 15° W. Long., from the meridian of London; and is between seventeen and eighteen leagues long, and from four to five broad.
This island has become an interesting object to the inhabitants of Great Britain, in consequence of its having been purchased in the year 1792 by a society instituted for the same humane purposes with those which gave rise to the Sierra-Leona company (see Sierra-Leona, Encycl.). The Bulam association was formed towards the latter end of the year 1791; and they were induced to pitch upon that island as the most eligible tract for their intended colony, in consequence of the flattering description given of its climate, soil, and harbours, by M. Brue, formerly director-general of the French African companies.
The gentlemen originally appointed as trustees for managing the concerns of the association at home were, Paul Le Mesurier, M. P.; James Kirkpatrick, Esq.; George Hartwell, Esq.; Moses Ximenes, Esq.; Sir John Riggs Miller, Bart. and David Scott, Esq.; M. P.; and for establishing the colony, and conducting the affairs of the society abroad, the following gentlemen were nominated, A sum of L9000 being quickly subscribed for the establishment of the intended colony, this committee sailed from Spithead in three ships on the 14th of April 1792; and landing in due time at Bulama, they purchased that island from the kings of Cainabae, who claimed it as their property. They purchased likewise from the kings of Ghinala the neighbouring island Arcas, and the adjacent land on the continent; and these several purchases being taken possession of in the usual form, a body of settlers, consisting of 49 men, 13 women, and 25 children, were left at Bulama under the superintendence of Mr. Beaver, with a temporary supply of provisions, stores, plantation-tools, and merchandise, for trading with the neighbouring natives. It is from the dispatches of these settlers, after having lived some time in Bulama, that the following account of the island was drawn up by Mr. Johnston.
"The climate, on the whole, may be deemed salubrious, and will become more so in proportion to the increase of cultivation. The mornings and evenings are temperate and pleasant; the middle of the day is hot, but the fine sea breeze which then sets in tends greatly to cool and refresh the air. The heat of the sun is not either so excessive or intolerable as has been generally supposed; indeed, nature has most admirably adapted our mechanical and physical qualities to the exigencies of different regions; and man, who is the inhabitant of every climate, may, in some measure, render himself indigenous to every soil. Here the only danger arises from too sudden an exposure to the operation of the vertical rays of the sun, or an excess of labour; both of which the first settlers ought most studiously to avoid.
"It appears from Mr. Beaver's observations at noon, between the 26th of July 1792, and the 28th of April 1793, that the thermometer, when lowest, was at 74; the medium heat 85; and that it never exceeded 96, except at one time when it rose to 100, during a calm that occurred in the interval between the north-east breeze in the morning and the south-west in the evening of the 10th of February 1793. The difference between the heat of noon and that of the morning and evening is from 20 to 30 degrees. On the 23rd of October 1792, hail of the size of a pin's head fell during two minutes, although not a cloud was to be seen during this phenomenon. The mercury in the thermometer then stood at 85; the wind was at north-east in the morning and south-west in the evening.
"Immediately after sun set a dew constantly begins to fall, which induces some to light a fire in their houses; they at the same time put on warmer clothing. There is little or no twilight; and night and day are nearly equal; the earth has therefore time to cool during twelve hours absence of the sun.
"None of those terrible and destructive hurricanes so frequently experienced in the West Indies are to be met with here. The tornadoes, which arise chiefly from the eastern point of the compass, are but of short duration, seldom lasting above an hour, and may be readily foreseen some time previously to their commencement. They occur at the beginning and close of the wet season, and are highly beneficial, as they purify the air, and dispel the noxious vapours with which it would otherwise abound.
"The rains set in about the latter end of May or the beginning of June, and discontinue in October or November. They do not fall every day, for there is often a considerable interval of clear weather, during which the atmosphere is beautifully serene; the showers in the first and last month occur but seldom, and are far from being violent; while, on the other hand, they sometimes resemble torrents, more especially towards the middle of the season. During the whole of this period, Europeans should, if possible, confine themselves to their habitations, as the rains prove injurious to health, more especially if those exposed to them neglect to wipe their bodies dry, and to change their clothes immediately on their return home. It is deemed prudent also not to dig the earth until the expiration of a month after the return of fair weather, as this is considered to be unhealthy.
"During the continuance of the dry season, a dew falls during the night, in insufficient quantity to answer all the purposes of vegetation.
"Every stranger is generally here, as well as in the West Indies, subject to a fever or scurvy on his arrival. This is not infectious; it proceeds perhaps from an increased perspiration and a sudden extension of the pores of the human body, in consequence of the heat, by which means it is rendered more liable to imbibe the abundant exhalations that arise from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; but even this, slight as it is, might doubtless be avoided by means of a proper regimen, and a short seclusion from the full action of the open air, more especially at noon, and during the evening, until the climate has been rendered familiar.
"Bulama is admirably adapted for all the purposes of an extensive commerce, being not only happily situated at the mouth of the Rio Grande, but in the vicinity of several other navigable rivers; so that a trade with the internal parts of Africa is thereby greatly facilitated. The landing is remarkably easy and safe, there being no surge; the ebb and flow is regular, and there is an increase of 16 feet of water at spring tide. The bay opposite the Great Bulama is adorned with a number of islands, covered with trees, and forms a most excellent harbour, sufficiently capacious to contain the whole navy of Great Britain, which might ride there in safety. The settlement in general is well supplied with water. A number of springs have been lately discovered in different places; and besides a draw-well in the fort, which was erected for the defence of the colony, there is a small stream, which runs into Lewis's Bay, near the new settlement called Helper Lewis's; this is admirably situated for the supply of shipping.
"The island is beautifully surrounded, and interposed with woods; lofty fruit and forest trees, mostly free from underwood and brambles, form a verdant belt, in some places two or three miles broad, which entirely encircles it, in such a manner as to represent a plantation artificially formed around a park. Within this the fields are regularly divided by trees, so as to resemble the hedge rows in England. The beach has in some places the appearance of gravel walks; it is fringed with mangrove trees, which forming a line with the high- High-water mark, dip their branches into the sea, and thus afford nourishment to the oysters that often adhere to their extremities.
Several parts of Bulama have been occasionally cultivated by the neighbouring blacks, though they did not constantly reside on it.
"The land in general rises gradually towards the middle of the island, where the highest spot is from 60 to 100 feet above the level of the sea. The small hill on which the fort is situated is nearly of the same altitude.
"The soil is abundantly rich and deep; stones do not here impede the labours of the farmer; and indeed none have hitherto been discovered, but a small fort, resembling pieces of ore, which are to be met with on the shore. There are many savannahs or natural meadows, so extensive that the eye can scarcely define their boundaries. These are admirably adapted for the rearing of stock and feeding of cattle of every kind.
"Cotton, indigo, rice, and coffee, grow spontaneously on this coast; the sugar-cane is indigenous to many parts of Africa, and might be cultivated here by the labour of freemen, in equal perfection, and to much greater advantage, than in the exhausted islands of the West Indies. All kinds of tropical productions, such as pine-apples, limes, oranges, grapes, plums, cattails, guava, Indian wheat, the papaw, water-melon, muskmelon, the pumpkin, tamarind, bananas, and numbers of other delicious fruits, also flourish here. The adjoining territories produce many valuable sorts of spices, gums, and materials for dying; all of which, it is but fair to suppose, might be readily cultivated in a kindred climate and a congenial soil.
"The neighbouring seas abound with a variety of fish, highly agreeable to the palate. The lion, tyger, jackall, &c., are natives of the continent; but in Bulama no animals have been discovered, the wolf, some buffaloes, a few elephants, and a species of the deer excepted.
"The woods abound with doves, guinea fowls, and a variety of birds, celebrated for the beauty of their plumage.
"The natives of this part of Africa, like all savages, are entirely under the dominion of their passions; hence the violence of their attachment to their friends, and the excess of their resentment against their enemies. Their notions of property are very obscure and confused; they have no idea of any right arising from occupancy or improvement. What they want, they either receive or take wherever they may happen to meet with it, and they permit others to do the same. They have been taught by experience, that the Europeans will not agree to this; against them therefore they employ every artifice that it is in the power of cunning to suggest.
"The colonists need not fear any attack on the part of the negroes, provided their own conduct be just and peaceable; for Mr. Beaver, who was indeed admirably calculated by nature and habit for the station he occupied, could insure both safety and respect when the settlers under him were reduced to four white men, although the neighbouring nations knew that he was in possession of commodities, for the acquisition of which many of them had become day-labourers. He often kept from twenty to forty grommots, or black cultivators in pay, at that very period, at about four or five bars (a) each per month. These are easy to be procured, to almost any number that can possibly be wanted.
"Until a sufficient quantity of stock and provisions can be raised in the company's settlements, the adjacent islands will furnish abundance of cattle, hops, towels, &c., at a very cheap rate. A horse may be purchased at Goree for £1.10s.; a bullock may be had from £2.5s. to £3.5s. sterling; provisions of all kinds are equally reasonable. Honey is also to be procured in great plenty, and bees wax may be rendered an advantageous object of commercial speculation.
"In short, the acquisition of Bulama, Arcas, and the adjacent territories, presents the fairest opportunity of furnishing Europe with many valuable articles that have hitherto been brought from more remote countries, with much greater hazard, and at an increased expense. The intercourse with England is easy, safe, and expeditious; for the voyage may be performed in the space of three or four weeks; and by the terms of the first subscription, a settler on Bulama might purchase 500 acres of land for £30 sterling; by the terms of the second, which we suppose are the terms at present, he might purchase on the islands of Bulama and Arcas, or on that part of the adjacent coast which was ceded to the society by the kings of Ghimala, 200 acres for £50 sterling.
"The colonization of Africa opens a noble and extensive field to nations and to individuals. To people those fertile territories, deprived of their inhabitants by the slave trade; to rear the productions of the climes between the tropics, by the assistance of free men; to give ample scope to the industry and exertions of those who may be inclined to remove from Great Britain; and to extend the commerce and the manufactures of our native country—these are subjects which have excited the attention of the Bulama association, and now claim the affluence of the ingenious, the support of the rich, and the concurrence and good wishes of all.