or Bulama, an island on the western coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in N. Lat. 11° and W. Long. 15°. This island, which is about 18 leagues long, and four broad, forms part of a cluster of islands, which have been known by the name of Bijagos, and are supposed to be the Hesperides of the ancients.

This island was purchased in 1792 by a society instituted for similar purposes with those of the Sierra Leone association. The sum of 9000l. was subscribed for the establishment of the colony, and the management of it intrusted to a committee who sailed from Spithead in April 1792, and having arrived at Bulama, took possession of the new purchase, and left a body of settlers consisting of 49 men, 13 women, and 25 children, under a superintendant, with a supply of stores and provisions necessary for an infant settlement. The following account of the climate, soil and productions of Bulama, drawn up by Mr. Johansen, gives a flattering picture of this island. "The climate, says he, 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 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 20th 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 19th 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 sunset 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 these 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 flowers 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 sufficient 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 seafaring 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, 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 Elephants; this is admirably situated for the supply of shipping.

The island is beautifully surrounded and interspersed 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-water mark, dip their branches into the sea, and thus afford nourishment to the oysters that often adhere to their extremities.

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 delimit 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, caffada, guava, Indian wheat, the papaw, water-melon, muskmelon, the pumpkin, tamarind, banana, 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 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.