a British settlement on the west coast of Africa, consisting of a peninsula terminating in Cape Sierra-Leone, and bounded on the N. by the river of the same name. The cape lies in N. Lat. 8° 30', W. Lon. 13° 18'; and the peninsula is 18 miles in length by 12 in breadth, with an area of 300 square miles. The term Sierra-Leone Coast is applied to a more widely extended region, from Cape Verga to Sherboro Island; but the colony itself is confined to the narrow limits above described. The peninsula is rugged and mountainous, its centre being occupied by a group of conical heights, densely wooded, and rising to the height of 2000 or 3000 feet in the Sugarloaf and Leicester Mountains, which are the loftiest points. Between the various hills lie several ravines and small valleys, while in some places there are considerable tracts of level ground. One of these level tracts lies along the Bunce river, which forms the eastern limit of the colony. This plain is 24 miles in length, and varies from half a mile to 3 miles in breadth. Another lies in the S.E. of the peninsula. Numerous streams descend from the hills, which collect into a basin called the Bay of Franca, celebrated as a watering-place. The Sierra-Leone is more of an estuary than a river; it is 20 miles in length, by 10 in breadth at its mouth. It forms the outlet of the Rokelle, a river which rises at some distance in the interior, and affords a considerable water communication. The range of the thermometer at Sierra-Leone is very small, and the average heat throughout the year is 82°. Excessive humidity characterizes the climate; and sometimes the rain that has fallen in two days has exceeded the yearly average in England. The rains continue for six months, and the torrents which descend from the mountains deluge the plains beneath. The climate is very unhealthy, especially for Europeans. A very dry wind from the north-east, called the Harmattan, generally blows during the months of December, January, and February, and the atmosphere then becomes full of minute particles of sand, which prove very injurious. The land breeze also, which blows regularly in the evening over the low and swampy ground to the east, is laden with noxious exhalations; but the sea breeze in the morning is cool and refreshing. Remittent fevers, dysentery, and inflammation of the liver are the most prevalent forms of disease. There are, however, some periods of salubrity; and the climate is believed to have been recently improving from the clearing and drainage of the land. The prevailing geological formation of the country is volcanic; and the most frequently occurring rocks are granite and iron-stone. The soil is far from being naturally fertile, but it has been made by industrious cultivation to yield many crops of various kinds. The total extent of land under cultivation in 1853 was 9414 acres; and in that year there were raised 35,958 bushels of cassada, 2008 of cocoa, 6313 of maize, 12,528 of ginger, 386 of ground-nuts, 548 of Guinea corn, 3303 cwt. of yams, 13,170 bunches of plantains and 11,672 of bananas, 1542 sugar-canies, 528 pine-apples, &c. The edible fruits of Sierra-Leone are numerous and luscious, including pine-apples, the baobab, or monkey bread, a valuable tree; oranges, plantains, bananas, limes, and many others. The animal kingdom is very abundant, comprising many species of antelopes, monkeys, and other denizens of a tropical country. The live stock in the colony in the year 1856 consisted of 9 horses, 710 horned cattle, 229 sheep, and 743 goats.
Free Town, the capital of the colony, is built upon the south side of the Sierra-Leone river, and at the northern extremity of the peninsula. Immediately in front of the town the river forms a bay, where there is good and commodious anchorage for vessels of all classes, and timber ships of considerable size proceed with facility nearly 20 miles higher up the stream, for the purpose of taking in their cargoes. The town is beautifully situated on an inclined plane, at the foot of some hills, on which stand the fort and other public buildings that overlook it and the roads, whence there is a fine prospect of the town rising in the form of an amphitheatre from the water's edge, above which it is elevated 70 feet. It is regularly laid out into broad streets parallel with the river, and intersected by others at right angles. The buildings are commodious, and substantially built of stone, which at once contribute to the beauty of the place, and to the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Numbers of cocoa-nut, orange, lime, and banana trees are dispersed all over the town, imparting to it a peculiarly picturesque appearance. The public buildings of the town comprise several substantial places of worship, missionary institutions, schools, a market-house, custom-house, and jail. There are good meat, poultry, and fish markets; and almost every article of housekeeping can be procured at the shops of the British merchants. The population of the capital may be estimated at 16,000.
The colony is divided into five districts and into thirteen parishes, as follows:
| Parishes | Acres | Coloured Pop. | |----------|-------|---------------| | Free Town District | 1 | 17,929 | | First Eastern District | 2 | 33,500 | | Second Eastern District | 2 | 14,600 | | Western District | 3 | 5,279 | | Mountain District | 5 | 16,700 | | **Total** | **13** | **44,376** |
To this must be added, for the total population, 125 white people, making in all 44,501 inhabitants.
Throughout the peninsula several villages have been formed, viz., Leicester, founded in 1809; Regent, in 1812; Gloucester, in 1816; Kissey and Leopold, in 1817; Charlotte, Wilberforce, and Bothwell, in 1818; Kent, York, Wellington, and Waterloo, in 1819. These villages are generally situated in different parts of the mountain, but all are connected by good roads with each other and with the capital. The two Banana Islands, situated to the southwest of Free Town, were ceded to the British Government in 1819, by a family who receive an annual payment for them. Many of the colonists, besides the Europeans, possess considerable wealth. Some of the liberated slaves no doubt retain their habits of indolence, but in general the freed African relishes liberty, and is grateful for the boon conferred on him, and several, by their industry and economy, are said to have acquired considerable property. There were, in 1856, 62 schools, attended by 7903 scholars, besides 4 others for liberated blacks and native children. A large portion of the colony are enjoying, and all have access to, the means of moral and religious instruction. Upwards of one-fourth are regular attendants on the public ordinances of religion. They have built for themselves various and expensive places of worship; some of them are employed as spiritual instructors of their sable brethren; and all together, considering its circumstances, this negro colony is composed of an orderly and well-conducted people. In respect of religion the population is divided as follows:—Episcopalians, 13,863; Wesleyan Methodists, 13,946; African Methodists, 5134; Lady Huntingdon's Connection, 2849; Baptists, 462; Presbyterians, 5; Roman Catholics, 46; Jews, 3; Mohammedans, 2001; and Pagans, 6192. There is a bishop of the English Church, with nine clergymen, supported by the Church Missionary Society; and there are places of worship in almost every village. The Wesleyan Mission has four ministers, and several native missionaries, as well as numerous places of worship. Agriculture has not, indeed, been sufficiently prosecuted hitherto, but matters will improve in this respect when population increases and presses upon the means of supply. The trade of the colony has been fluctuating, but on the whole increasing; for a considerable period, as will appear from its extent at different dates—
| Year | Imports | Exports | Tonnage Entered | |------|---------|---------|-----------------| | 1825 | L.77,974 | L.58,965 | 23,479 | | 1830 | 87,251 | 71,076 | 26,343 | | 1835 | 69,301 | 66,903 | 17,453 | | 1840 | 73,989 | 65,888 | 19,520 | | 1845 | 114,475 | 103,384 | 23,434 | | 1850 | 97,890 | 115,159 | 25,486 | | 1855 | 114,910 | 170,547 | 32,265 | | 1856 | 162,907 | 180,385 | 33,555 |
The exports and imports for 1856 were divided among different countries, as follows:
| Countries | Imports | Exports | |-----------|---------|---------| | United Kingdom | L.122,801 | L.37,208 | | Gambia Colony | 483 | 6,254 | | United States | 15,926 | 52,128 | | France | 8,628 | 57,758 | | Teneriffe | 135 | 2 | | Madeira | 248 | 11 | | Spain | 33 | ... | | Africa, Windward Coast | 4,067 | 14,778 | | Leeward Coast | 681 | 12,246 | | **Total** | **L.152,907** | **L.180,385** |
The principal articles imported were cotton goods, chiefly from this country, to the value of L.65,746; while the most considerable exports were palm-oil and kernels, hides and ground nuts. The exports to other parts of Africa consisted chiefly of cotton goods from this country. In the same year there entered 300 vessels with a tonnage of 35,555, and there cleared 324 with a tonnage of 38,672. The public revenue of the colony in 1856 was L.35,601, and the expenditure L.34,467. The supreme power is in the hands of a governor and a legislative council. English law is in force, and is administered by several courts, the highest judicial authority being in the hands of the chief justice.
The colony of Sierra-Leone was originally established with philanthropic designs, which have as yet only partially succeeded. It was intended at once to sow the seeds of civilization and religion in Western Africa, as an antidote to the slave trade; and to provide an asylum for the many destitute negroes who had obtained their freedom by being brought to England, or had been dismissed from the army and navy at the close of the American war. To Granville Sharp and Dr Smetham belongs the honour of having first suggested the scheme, and of carrying it perseveringly forward in the face of many difficulties and reverses. The first settlement was made in 1787. Soon, however, misfortune came upon it; for in 1789 one of the neighbouring chiefs attacked and burned the settlement, leaving hardly time for the colonists themselves to escape. They were subsequently collected again in a new settlement; and the Sierra-Leone Company was soon after incorporated under the auspices of Sharp, Wilberforce, Clarkson, and others, for the purpose of re-organizing the colony. A fresh detachment of negroes from Nova Scotia was conveyed hither by the Government, and the settlement of Free Town was founded. It was, however, depopulated by a fever; and soon after, in 1794, plundered by a French squadron. Once more the colony was re-established, and this time with more success, though there were afterwards some internal disturbances, which were only quelled by military interference. Meanwhile, these accumulated disasters had so embarrassed the pecuniary affairs of the company, that it was found expedient to transfer their authority to the crown; and thus, in 1808, the settlement of Sierra-Leone became a British colony. The nucleus had been formed amid many difficulties of a free, civilised, and Christian settlement in Africa; and there can be no doubt that a great moral influence is being exerted on the native tribes by the missionaries who labour in this colony. Since passing into the hands of the crown, the territory of Sierra-Leone has been increased at various times by purchases of land from the neighbouring chiefs.