Chapter VIII: Part 8

Attention to every article of agriculture, and the demands occasioned for these in the regular course of trade, would be found the most easy, powerful, and effective engine which could be used to turn the attention of the population of Africa to understand their true interests, and consequently prove the most peaceable and expeditious mode of extending knowledge and civilization amongst them. Without roads and regular means of conveyance of goods and produce, such as we possess, the ignorant despot of the interior will never think of making his slaves, or his people, cultivate or transport produce of great bulk, and of laborious and expensive carriage, in order to procure in exchange articles which he requires, either for ornament or for use; produce too, which is liable to be injured by the way, while, with a trifling labour, and at a still more trifling expence, the slave can be compelled to walk to the most distant market in order to be there sold and exchanged for mercantile commodities, to gratify the passions of a barbarous master. Nor have we any reason to expect any change while cut off from all ready communication with any enlightened nation, and not only so, but, on the contrary, everywhere surrounded by fanatic powers, whose interest and whose policy it is to teach, and encourage these sovereigns to follow an opposite course. It can tend to little advantage to cut off a foreign slave-trade, (granting that could be made effectual,) unless we teach the Africans how to employ their slaves in a more useful and profitable manner. Unless we do this, the abolition of the foreign slave-trade will only tend to secure a greater number of wretched victims for those bloody “_Customs_,” and wholesale butcheries under the name of sacrifices, which are so frequent in many parts of Africa.

This detestable traffic must be gradually, that it may be wholly and entirely abolished, not only between Africa and foreign countries, but in Africa between state and state. To accomplish this end effectually, it is necessary also to destroy that grovelling superstition which disgraces human nature in Africa, and which binds the minds of prince and people in the worst and most ruinous of all bondage. In fact, it is this which leads to personal slavery, and every evil which afflicts Africa. Till the chains of superstition are broken asunder, neither the fetters of slavery, nor the yoke of the slave-trade ever will. The introduction of Christianity will dispel the terrors of the one, and its benign influence root out and remove the horrors of the other. Nothing else can accomplish the object. It is in our power to do this. The blessings and the benefits which, by the exertions of men from other countries, were first conferred upon us, we are bound to diffuse amongst other nations who remain deprived of them. It is on this sure basis, the introduction of true religion, and the education of young and old in its principles and its duties, that we must build the fabric of our dominion and our fame in Africa. Every other means will prove a foundation of “sand,” which each flood of human passions will sweep away. But, erected on the rock of Christianity, the foundation of our power in Africa will be impregnable, and our dominions spread invulnerable against every assailing foe. Christianity is the great enlightener and softener of human nature. Power directed by its principles can never fail of stability.

Let us proceed: we have nothing to fear. The whole civilized world is on our side. Our immediate interference is necessary to rescue Africa from severer afflictions and deeper woes than any she has previously endured. The accounts from every quarter are most deplorable, calamitous, and distressing. The slave-trade is stalking abroad with more appalling steps than ever. Since the abolition of Christian slavery by the Barbary States, their fury and their cupidity is directed, as might have been foreseen, to the unhappy population of the interior. The latest accounts from these places are most distressing. Havoc and ruin, pillage and desolation, are marching in awful array over all northern Sudan, and whole tribes are driven away into slavery by the ruthless Moor and unprincipled Arab. Powerful assistance and protection can only terminate this dreadful state of anarchy, distraction, and misery, into which Africa is so deeply plunged. These alone can check those frightful evils, and bring peace, security, and happiness, to Africa. Let us plant our standard, the standard of liberty, peace, and order, in her bosom, wherever our power can be most commanding, and by good deeds, acts of kindness, and protection, let us draw them to be our willing subjects, and then we shall see what power in Africa or elsewhere will dare to make slaves of them—to steal—to buy—or to sell their children any more.

Not only our duty, but our interests, require of us prompt and decisive measures on this subject, and on this occasion. It is the continued extension of the slave-trade which is proving the deepest injury to our West India colonies, and unless it is checked, the further continuance of it will cover all these colonies with ruin. The vast quantities of sugar, coffee, and cotton, which the United States, the Spanish and the Portuguese possessions are now raising, and the cheap rates at which these are produced from the continued importation of slaves, has driven our West India merchants out of every market on the Continent. It is in vain to speak about stopping a trade where individual and national interest are so much concerned, while all Africa is ready also to welcome any who embark in it, and while we pay such enormous sums annually to purchase that very produce, (cotton in particular,) which is raised by the labour of the slaves thus introduced. The united navies of Europe, and all the laws which the nations in it can pass, will fail in effecting the desirable object. British capital and industry thus strongly, though indirectly, carries on the slave-trade; for it is the interests of the governments, deriving so much benefit from its continuation, to wink at the conduct of their subjects who engage in it. There seems, therefore, no way to stop this trade effectually, and by so doing secure the prosperity of our West India possessions, but by colonizing interior Africa, and teaching and commanding the population there to abandon this disgraceful and abominable traffic.

Every object here pointed out can be carried into effect without trenching, in the smallest degree, upon the immediate rights and interests of any civilized nation upon earth. The advantages which Africa would derive from such measures cannot escape the notice of the most thoughtless. There cannot be a doubt of the rapid growth and extension of such a connexion and such a commerce. Whatever benefits Africa derived from it, would be returned upon us with double interest. Those who are acquainted with the character of Negroes, know how eagerly they seek after our cotton manufactures, particularly showey prints, &c. both for the purposes of ordinary use, and ornament upon festive occasions. They are all, particularly the females, fond of shew, and the outlet which would thus be created for the manufactures of Sheffield and Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Paisley, would be prodigious. The profits of such a trade also are not to be calculated by the scale of that trade carried on from Sierra Leone and the countries on the Gold Coast. The former place is inhabited chiefly by captured Negroes, the refuse of Africa, savage, poor, idle, and indolent, and from it there is no conveyance by water into the mountainous interior, while the latter are occupied by a population, harassed, oppressed, and plundered, by some petty or higher despot. At the same time, they have no extensive communication with the wealthier countries in the interior. The trade proposed and contemplated will, and it is obvious must, have a wider range, greater facilities, and a securer foundation.

It is a point of the utmost importance, and a subject which requires the deepest consideration, to determine the best mode of establishing a commercial intercourse with Africa, that shall prove advantageous and permanent. The following views of the subject present themselves to our consideration. The first is a direct trade with the natives of the different countries in the interior, conducted in a similar manner as other branches of commerce are carried on betwixt this country and other independent nations. Taking the formation of the trade in this point of view, we should merely have commercial without any political establishments. Thus situated, we must depend upon the native powers in whatever country our mercantile establishments are formed for justice and protection; and to the power and interference of our own country for redress, if, in course of our transactions, justice is denied or protection withdrawn. Amidst a barbarous people, such occurrences may be expected; while, before punishment is inflicted, the wrong is committed which will undermine the security of all commercial intercourse. Under such circumstances also, we ought not to interfere, and have no right to interfere, in any shape, with any of the present institutions established in the interior, whether these be civil or religious. Thus situated, the trade must continue on the same footing, and consequently on the same insecure and limited scale which it has hitherto done during the lapse of so many centuries, and continue to be subject to all the vexatious delays and extortions with which the capricious tyranny of the rude and ignorant despots of Africa may choose to load it. A trade so insecure and liable to so many unfavourable contingencies, cannot possibly be profitable to any one, and consequently could not be durable. Under such a system, there could be no rational hope of any speedy improvement amongst the population of Africa, which improvement can only give extension and permanency to the trade. No doubt, a legitimate commerce, carried on with Africa would, in time, tend to open the eyes of both the princes and the people to their true interests; but the progress thereof, under the most favourable circumstances, must necessarily be very slow; while so many obstructions lie in the way, so many difficulties under this mode of proceeding would remain to be overcome, and so many untoward circumstances may take place, as might very readily deter European merchants from prosecuting a trade under so many difficulties, and at last induce them to discontinue it altogether. Besides, foreign nations would participate in this trade. Conflicting European interests would be transplanted into the heart of Africa, and add to all those jealousies, the rivalry, and those distractions which already so grievously afflict and torment her.

The second view of the subject, which occurs for our consideration in the establishment of this trade is, by colonization and conquest; for in Africa the latter would necessarily, and speedily, and extensively, follow the former. Under these circumstances, the trade contemplated might safely be left free to the capital and industry of any British merchant or subject who might choose to engage in it. All that would be necessary in this case, in order to secure the most beneficial results to this country and to Africa, would be to prevent foreign nations from participating in this trade upon equal terms. At the outset, individuals might lose in this trade. The markets might, and in all probability would, be overstocked with supplies, both such as are proper and such as are improper; such as are calculated for the present wants of the natives, and such as are not calculated for that purpose. The loss, however, thus occasioned, would not be a national loss. Foreigners would derive no benefit therefrom. What one British subject lost another would gain, and in time every thing would be reduced to order. The supply would be suited to the demand, and the competition would be confined to those articles which are best adapted to the market. The capital and industry of all would have a fair, open, and honourable field for exertion. Under such circumstances, it might be most advisable to lay open, establish, and carry on the trade contemplated. This mode would certainly be most consonant to the present feelings of the population of the British Empire: but I am not sure, and indeed have strong doubts, if it would prove soonest and most extensively beneficial, either to this country or to Africa. The situation and interests of the latter must never be lost sight of, because it is only by bettering or improving her condition that we can greatly benefit ourselves.

The next mode of establishing this trade is under a chartered company. This may be done after the manner of the East India Company. In duration, however, it may and ought to be greatly limited, so as to render it expedient for those to whom it is granted to carry on the trade with energy, in order to reap every possible advantage from it, and that it may not be left to languish, as might be the case, if the period was greatly extended. On the other hand, the duration of it ought not to be narrowed too much, otherwise that circumstance would tend to discourage the merchant, and prevent him from laying out money at the first outset, to any considerable extent, or from embarking in the trade with that energy and vigour which could only render it productive and successful, or reimburse him for his labour expended and capital advanced. Perhaps 15 years might be a very fair period for the duration of such a charter. With diligence and activity, the time mentioned would render it an object well worth the attention of mercantile men, and nothing more than the encouragement which the nation ought to give for the labour in forming, or I may say creating, a commerce which is altogether new to this country, from which, through the individuals engaged in it, the nation derives immediate benefit, and lays, in the only way in which it can be securely laid, the foundation of a trade, from which the whole nation may fairly anticipate, and are certain to derive, at a future period, still greater advantages.

A charter, for the purpose contemplated, may either be extended or reduced, in regard to the numbers and capital engaged in it, as may be found most eligible or necessary. As the nature of the commerce in view, both as regards exports and imports, will naturally confine itself to the three chief commercial ports of this kingdom, namely, London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, and that in nearly equal proportions, so the charter may be granted to an extent proportionate to the magnitude of each of these places, and in a manner such as those merchants who are inclined to embark in it may regulate and determine. Their interest would lead them to choose the port which would prove the most conducive thereto, from whence they could send supplies, and to which they would direct the returns to be made. A power might be vested in the Board of Trade to examine into the general management of the chartered company, and to regulate these upon the strict principles of national justice and national advantage.

A charter for the purposes mentioned, and under such circumstances, can scarcely be called a monopoly. It is indeed an exclusive privilege in trade, but then this exclusive privilege is for a trade yet to be formed—a trade which neither this country, nor any other civilized nation, are, or have previously, been in possession of—a trade, which it is a very doubtful case if this country ever could possess, (certainly not so soon, if at all,) to the extent to which she would command it, if gone into under the regulations and privileges recommended. No legislative interference with, or burthens imposed upon, any other settlement in Africa, is required or expected. It is not solicited or contemplated, that the produce of any other country or colony should be prohibited from entering, or be taxed upon its entering, any of the ports of Great Britain, (the great and most objectionable features in other charters,) in order to enhance the value of, or insure a preference in, the consumption of any articles which may be brought from Africa under the privilege here recommended. No prohibitive or protecting laws in any branch of commerce are thought of. On the contrary, it is proper, and it is expected, that all branches thereof should be left free and open to the competition of capital, skill, and industry.

The judicious application of charters is one thing, and the injudicious grant of them another. To a trade carried on with any civilized country, every exclusive privilege is injurious. The reason is obvious. There law, justice, and order prevail. Every individual is equally protected, and no evil consequences can result from competing interests. To an uncultivated and uninhabited country, similar regulations are equally, if not more injurious, because the prosperity and advancement of the same, in every branch of improvement, depends upon the ability, caprice, liberality, capital, credit, and judgment—the good or bad fortune of those who obtain such an exclusive privilege. With a populous, but a barbarous country, incapable of organizing any thing that is stable or advantageous for itself or its neighbours, a very different line of conduct is rendered necessary. Without a chartered company, Great Britain never could have achieved what she has done in India, nor reared such a noble fabric of commerce and civil government as she has there done. Yet when Britain entered that part of the world, India was peopled by civilized nations. Compared to what the inhabitants of India were, the people of Africa are rude barbarians. Compared to what the population of India are now become, the inhabitants of central Africa are mere savages. It may be for the greater advantage of Great Britain and of India, that the trade to the latter should now be thrown open, but it never could have been for the interest of either that this should have taken place at an earlier period. The situation of Africa, however, is totally different. There every thing is to do. Regular commerce is to be created. Society is almost altogether to be formed. Security and civilization, law, order, and religion, are each and all yet to be introduced into and planted in Africa. Unity of action and design, therefore, becomes absolutely necessary to accomplish all these desirable objects. Conflicting interests, amidst such a disjointed population, must, and will, indefinitely retard it. A charter is clearly and indispensably necessary, in order to conduct mercantile affairs to a prosperous issue—in order to regulate the supply, to explore the country, and find out the proper markets—to negotiate, as an irresistible and stable power, with the native princes—to purchase lands, to protect trade, to punish aggression—to rear up, gradually an empire in Africa, such as has been done in India, against which no native power shall be able to raise its head. Then, but not till then, the trade may be thrown open, but the territorial power of the charter may, as in India, remain.

Without such regulations for a time, there is too good reason to dread that our connection with Africa will never be more than the transient visitations of insulated merchants acting without concert—often contrary to one another—glutting the markets, pouring in ill-timed and improper supplies—raising the price of native produce above its value, and depressing each other’s commodities; in short, strengthening the hands of the native tyrants, and enabling them more easily to dictate hard terms to commerce, to shut up the interior altogether, and to enable barbarous hands, or savage life, still to hold the balance in that ill- fated country. The whole of our establishments on the coasts of Tropical Africa, afford, at this moment, a sad confirmation, and striking illustration of these important truths. If this erroneous policy in their intercourse with Africa is still to be continued by European powers, then, to the latest period of time, the central and southern parts of that vast continent are doomed to remain in the same deplorable state of ignorance, degradation, and misery, which has been their lot during the lapse of 3000 years.

No doubt the capital, skill, and industry of British merchants, can do much, and overcome difficulties which perhaps the merchants of no other nation can. If government established powerful settlements in Africa, and rendered Great Britain respected, feared, and obeyed, then there could be no danger with regard to the ultimate success of the trade, though laid open to all. But, in this case, a very considerable expence must be incurred by the nation, without any adequate or immediate return; whereas, in the other case, that return, and the expense incurred for protection, would go hand in hand. The question for the consideration and decision of government in this case, is, which method will prove the most secure and permanent, and soonest become the most beneficial to individuals and to the national interests, and at the least possible outlay or expense? The plan that can accomplish these things, is that which should be chosen, and acted upon without hesitation or reserve. For the reasons already mentioned, as well as for various others too tedious to enumerate, a chartered company for a limited time seems the most advisable way to enter upon and establish the contemplated trade. On such an important point, however, I would wish it to be understood, that the opinion here given is adduced with great deference.

The trade to Central Africa ought to belong exclusively to the subjects and the people of Great Britain. Every article which the people on the Niger can require for convenience, ornament, or use— all implements of agriculture—all articles for domestic purposes—for dress, for navigation, commerce, manufactures, science—in short, every thing that a population advancing from the rudest state of society, through all the intervening stages to the most enlightened, can want, are almost exclusively the productions of the British soil, or of British industry. Our finer manufactures would be chiefly sought after for the light dresses adapted for the climate; but the coarser and the warmer would in some instances also be sought after, by those people who live amidst the African Andes. Where the fine and costly manufactures of other nations were in request, then, coming through our hands, we should make it more their interest to be on friendly terms with us. If the trade to Interior Africa, carried on by barbarians, with our goods sold to them in the first instance at a fair price, and then carried thither by them, subject to all the danger, delay, expense, exactions, and robberies, which unprincipled despots, and lawless freebooters heap upon them—if this trade yield them such extensive profits as it really does, what must the British merchant gain who can carry these goods from the first hand, at the first cost, and land these at Timbuctoo almost as cheap as they can at present be landed at Mogadore, Algiers, Tunis, or Tripoli? How much could he under-sell both the Moor and the Arab, either in the imports to the interior, or the exports from it, while his goods would at all times arrive at their destined market in a state superior to what it is possible theirs at present can now do? Besides, the conveyance by water would enable us to carry many articles to those markets which, from the nature of the articles, cannot possibly now be got transported into the interior by land carriage.

A trade such as that contemplated, may employ a capital of any extent; but at the outset, under a company, there is no necessity for its being great. On the contrary, it is evident, that from the situation in which Africa is, the trade, to do good to any party, must feel its way—must make itself. The articles which would be chiefly exported in its early stages, would be of the coarser and cheaper kinds, and the returns of a description that will command a ready market. Small vessels, both for expedition in the voyages, and also for navigating the rivers, would be the best in the commencement of the undertaking. Indeed, till the latter are completely explored, small vessels are indispensable. Some time must elapse before all these points can be fully known. Till then, it is evident the trade cannot be forced, while, at the outset, it may very readily be overdone.

In an undertaking of this kind the countenance and support of government is absolutely necessary, in order to induce merchants of capital, credit, and character, to embark in it. To be done correctly and advantageously, every thing must emanate from one source in Africa, whether it regards civil government or commerce. Unity in design, and obedience to the dictates of one authority, can alone render the present plan completely successful. The reasons urged against the exclusive privilege of trade to a civilized state do not apply in this instance. The trade, open to all, would create conflicting interests, which would retard and endanger, if not altogether prevent the accomplishment of the grand, the ultimate object in view. Besides, it is one thing to embark in a trade to a country where civilization, law, and justice prevail, and another to engage in one to a country where all those things are yet to be formed. The latter requires an exclusive privilege to induce and protect the adventurers, while the trade, in the same or similar articles with other parts of the world, remaining upon its present footing, or without any preference to either, will always prevent the apparent monopoly from injuring the general interests of the parent state by exorbitant prices, while the competition they have to meet with from other markets, would compel the merchants engaged in the trade with Africa, to be diligent, prudent, and industrious. Unless such a privilege were granted, there is too much reason to dread, that every object at present contemplated will fail, and that the nation, as well as individuals, will thereby sustain a great and irreparable loss. Conflicting interests also would lower us in the eyes of the natives, and prevent us from acquiring and maintaining that superiority in Africa indispensably necessary for our protection, and for her civilization and improvement. In Africa, as in India, opinion gives power. Without power in Africa we could not effect any thing.

The persons to be employed under government in these parts should be men who are willing to serve their country for their country’s good. They ought to be amply remunerated for their services, and their public duty ought not to be forgotten or sacrificed for private emolument. Their business and their duty is to see justice impartially administered to all, and to raise the honour and fame of their country on a sure and a permanent basis. The settlement must, for as short a time as possible, be rendered burthensome to Great Britain. Africa is to receive the benefit, and ought to and must defray the expence. All expences attending civil and military establishments must be borne by Africa. A trifling tax imposed upon the property of the country under our controul, would be adequate for this purpose, as, at the outset, these need not be large. As these increased, Africa, from the benefits received, would be more able to defray the additional expence. A tenth—a twentieth part of what the population of Africa now pay to those from whom she receives no benefit whatever, would now, and, at any future period, be more than sufficient for this purpose. The blessings of good government, true religion, peace, and security, would by this tribute be cheaply purchased.

All expences, merely commercial, or in any way relating thereto, such as travelling expences for agents, salaries for servants in the employ of the company, or for the furtherance of any object connected with their immediate and exclusive interest, ought to be borne by the mercantile body engaged in the undertaking. A public fund should be set apart to defray the expences of exploring the country, in order to form connections and establishments in more distant parts thereof. But as this tends to the benefit of this nation—of Great Britain and Africa, an allowance (till the revenue of the latter can defray the expence) should be made out of the public purse to the mercantile body for this purpose, government having the power to require satisfactory information how the money has been expended. The interest of the merchant would induce him to pay liberally, and, at the same time, to proceed economically. In all undertakings of this kind, mercantile men can prevent or rectify abuses easier than any government can do, and, therefore, it becomes more proper to bestow upon them such an authority, and such an exclusive privilege, as is here pointed out.

The expence of embassies to the courts of the native powers, which ought to be frequent, should be borne by Britain at the outset, and afterwards by the colonial government. The former ought to lend her name and authority to individuals resident in large cities as consuls or persons exploring the country, thereby conferring upon all these persons a degree of importance highly necessary in Africa, and which would not fail to claim respect from the sovereigns and the people. In all the chief towns men of this description should, as soon as possible, be placed, in order to gain the most correct knowledge of the country, its productions and wants, and to buy, sell, receive, or send off these productions and supplies, to the general depot where these articles are directed to be collected in their voyage to, or from Europe, and other places. This mode of proceeding would sooner teach the natives the value and utility of their productions and their labour.

The concern being for the general benefit of the nation, should, from the outset, receive the cordial and unremitting attention and support of the nation. In all matters, either civil or political, every establishment must be under the controul of the British government. In political matters and civil government, none must lift a hand or a foot in Africa without permission from it. In every thing relating to commercial affairs, the direction and management must remain entirely in the hands of the company and its servants, while, at the same time, the servants of government must be instructed to render the merchants every protection and assistance requisite to prosecute and extend the trade. This company, by their charter, ought to have the power to extend their capital as they may see necessary. This capital may consist of transferable shares. These shares may be smaller or larger, as may be judged most convenient. The smaller, however, the better, as it will give a greater number of persons an opportunity to engage in the undertaking, and thus create a greater interest in the mother country for the welfare and prosperity of these African Colonies. Government, in the first instance, must be at the expence of every outlay for permanent military establishments, such as proper fortifications and adequate garrisons; but both the principal and the interest of the outlay ought, as soon as possible, to be paid from the proceeds of internal taxation, laid on such things as may be found most eligible. All regulations, laws, and measures for the government of these colonies, must be formed by the British Government and Legislature, or subject to their approval and revisal, always, however, restricted, (could that be supposed necessary,) in so far as these shall not militate against the interests of the company or main object of the undertaking.

Provision should be made in every place for the teachers of religion, and the instructors of youth. A fixed revenue should be raised and appropriated for this purpose; and it is the people of Africa, and others who may derive benefit from it, who should defray the expence. The superstition which degrades and debases Africa must be vanquished by the spirit and the precepts of the Gospel; and the other, namely, human sacrifices, wherever we may find these, be prevented by the arm of power, if necessary. No expence ought to be spared to accomplish these objects. In this the authority of the company and of the government should go hand in hand. The blessings of the British constitution should be gradually extended to the colonists, as their intelligence, power, and resources increase. At the outset this could not be done with safety. Justice, however, must be most carefully administered; and in every thing, Europeans must set a good example, that the liberty bestowed upon the African population may not be construed by them as a path to licentiousness. All kinds of African produce and commodities should be admitted into Great Britain and her other colonies, upon the same terms as those articles are admitted from other places, with the exception of sugar, the great staple of our West India Islands, where so much British capital is vested, and whose cultivation is so expensive. A considerable time, however, must elapse before any establishment could be formed in Africa to cultivate sugar to an extent which could affect the market. There are other points for regulation, which a due consideration of this important subject, in all its bearings, and the wisdom and liberality of the British government, will, either now, or in due time, supply. Having thought much and long on the subject, I only hint at this with due deference to the opinion of the government and of the public.

Minor criminals, who are sentenced to be transported from Great Britain, may be sent to Africa to aid in colonizing it. The punishment also of many offences against our laws, such as theft, house-breaking, forgery, &c. when these are not attended with the most aggravating circumstances, and which are at present capital, may be commuted into banishment to an African colony. Many, very many of those unhappy individuals who forfeit their character and lives to the violated laws of their country, and many who are expatriated from it, are not destitute of talents, and, if spared, might become useful members of society. In Africa, from necessity, they must become sober and industrious, or they would soon end their days. But if they behaved well, they might become greatly serviceable to their country, to themselves, and to mankind. In Europe, the remembrance of errors stamps an inferiority upon them in the eyes of every one, and which too often overcomes every resolution of amendment, and, considering themselves proscribed outcasts, they are hurried headlong into the commission of greater crimes. Removed, however, into the midst of a population such as are in Africa, they would assume an importance in their own eyes, which would act as a stimulus to keep them in the paths of virtue. They would see human nature degraded below them, and men more ignorant and rude than themselves. They would feel their superiority. They would strive to maintain it. By doing good to others, which they would then have in their power, the better disposed would endeavour to make amends for the injuries which they had previously inflicted upon society. The worst amongst them could still teach multitudes in Africa much useful knowledge. Removed from the scenes of their folly and their crimes, and the inducements which led to these, there would be few, indeed, who would not strive to retrieve their characters and their fortunes.

For a first offence, expatriation from friends, country, and civilized society, is, and must be, the severest punishment: removed to Africa must prove particularly severe. Let the condition of their restoration to society be their merits, activity, and character in Africa. It is our duty to reclaim, more than to punish—to restore, rather than to cut off a member from society. In this we follow, and, ought to follow, the footsteps of him who came to seek and to save—to preserve, not to destroy those who had erred. Perhaps 1000 convicts annually might be sent from Great Britain to Africa—1000, every one of whom might, under judicious authority, in some degree be made instrumental, in places of the greatest danger, to teach useful knowledge to the ignorant African. Under the controlling authority established there, the convict, from the hopes of forgiveness and restoration to a better rank in the scale of society, would be led to amend his own life, and reclaim the most degraded and benighted of his fellow creatures. All, perhaps, would not act such a part. But many would. If, however, this plan succeeded in reclaiming five out of ten, and in making these outcasts from British society the instruments of instructing Africa in any of the arts and labours of civilized life, how great is the good that will thereby be effected!

In this voyage (if I may use the expression) for the improvement of Africa, there are two fatal rocks which we must carefully avoid, if we wish to escape shipwreck. The first is, that, although the precious metals (gold in particular) abound in Africa, still we must take care to direct the exertions of her people to those labours of greater importance, the profits of which can, at all times, command the precious metals, and which productions ought, in this case, as well as in every other, to be only a secondary object. The next is, we ought not to go to Africa with the rooted idea, that it was Europeans who occasioned slavery, and created a slave trade in, and with, Africa. If we adopt this erroneous opinion, in order to act upon it, we shall never take the right path or proper means to root out the one, or to destroy the other. It is Africa herself, as has already been remarked, that is the great root of the evil, though her guilt does not constitute European innocence, wherever the latter has participated in, or yet continues the traffic.

The climate of Africa is not worse than in other tropical regions of the earth, particularly the coast of America from the Rio Bravo to Rio de Janeiro. On the contrary, about the mouths of the Orinoco, and all along the coast to the mouth of the Maranon, it is more unhealthy than any part of the coast of Africa in the neighbourhood of Benin and Biafra. With proper attention in forming settlements, healthy spots may be found. It is quite evident, that, in the interior of Africa, such places must be numerous, and that, freed from the noxious vapours so prevalent about the mouths of rivers on the coasts, the greatest danger to the health of Europeans would be the sudden transitions from heat to cold, which must occur among the prodigious mountains of Africa. The heat, on these coasts, is by no means oppressive or so great as in other places. The sky is much obscured with clouds, which mitigate the heat greatly. With care, these regions of Africa offer no greater objections to forming settlements in them than many other places so eagerly coveted by Europeans, and so widely colonized.

I have thus, though feebly I confess, in comparison to the magnitude of the subject brought forward, completed the object which I had in view, namely, to call the attention of the British government, and the power and energies of our people, to an honour of the first rank, and, at the same time, endeavoured to rouse the resources and enterprize of our merchants to engage in a trade of the first magnitude. By means of the Niger and his tributary streams, it is quite evident, that the whole trade of Central Africa may be rendered exclusively and permanently our own. The object, at all times of the highest importance, is, at the present moment, become more particularly so. The feelings and the efforts of this great nation would most cheerfully embark in the enterprize. To support and carry into execution the measures necessary to accomplish this undertaking is worthy of the ministry of Great Britain, and worthy of the first country of the world. It will confer immortal honour on our native land—lasting glory on the name and reign of George the Fourth—bring immense and permanent advantages to Britain, and bestow incalculable blessings and benefits on Africa. Agriculture, and manufactures, and commerce, and learning, and religion, will spread rapidly and widely over a country abounding in the richest productions, whether on the surface of the earth or below it, but, at present, a country overspread with the most abject servitude, and sunk in the deepest ignorance, superstition, and barbarity. Every obstacle will vanish before judicious and patient exertions. The glory of our Creator—the good of mankind—the prosperity of our own country—the interest of the present, and the welfare of future generations—glory, honour, interest, call us, and, united, point out the sure path to gain the important end. Let but the noble Union Ensign wave over and be planted by the stream of the mighty Niger, and the deepest wounds of Africa are healed. Round it, and to it, the nations from Balia to Darfur, from Asben to Benin, would gather for safety and protection—the slave would burst his fetters, and the slave trade be heard of no more. The road to effect this is open— It is safe—It will soon be occupied by others; and, if we hesitate, the glory and the advantages will be wrested from our hands.

FINIS.

* * * * *
_Printed by Balfour & Clarke,
Edinburgh_, 1821.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: There is some reason to believe that the Latitude as here given, may have been transposed in transcribing, and thus the Latitude placed for the Longitude. But, having no access to any copy but one, I have not the means of ascertaining this point. If this transposition has taken place, then the Sagapola Mountains would be a continuation of the Usargala Mountains, and a chain extending on the south side of the desert, till it joined Mount Mandrus. On the other hand, as the river Subos, which enters the sea in 29° North Lat. is said by Ptolemy to flow from those mountains, it would fix them as being part of the grand chain of Mount Atlas.]

[Footnote 2: I strongly suspect that the longitude here has also been transposed for the latitude.]

[Footnote 3: Verum recentiores Melli regnum claudunt à meridie Melligetico littore, quo ab regno Melli regnam nomen accepisse contendunt. Ceterum Melligetam terminant ab oriente promontorio Palmarium à meridie autem oceano. (Geog. Joannis Blaev. pars tertia, p. 121. Amsterdam, 1662.)]

[Footnote 4: The country of the negroes is called by the Arabs Belad el Abeed, (Country of Slaves,) and Belad el Genewa, the same as Djenawa. (Geog. Joannis Blaev. pars tertia, p. 101. Amsterdam, 1662.)]

[Footnote 5: P. 21. Regnum hoc multis Guineæ insignitum vocabulo, diversumque a vasta illa Guineæ regione quæ meridium versus ultra Gago Guberque est regna, mercatoribus Afris, Leone teste, Genehoa; Arabibus, Marmolio auctore, Genewa; incolis autem Genni seu Genee appellatur. (Geog. Joannis Blaev, pars tertia, p. 104. Amsterdam, 1662.)]

[Footnote 6: In the Encyc. Brit. 5th edition, Gago is said to be situated south of Timbuctoo and Houssa, and near a range of hills that run from east to west, from whence issue many rivers that flow north to the Niger. South of Gago is Dahomy.]

[Footnote 7: “Ab Orientes montes, qui in Deserta quædam procurrint; a Septentrionibus autema lios quodam montes permeandos ad Guineæ Mellegeticumque littus ituris,” p. 122.]

[Footnote 8: It is a curious fact, that at Coomassie, the capital of Ashantee, Bowditch met with a very intelligent Arab, who had witnessed the battle of Aboukir. He particularly mentioned the blowing up of the L’Orient, and at the very hour (10 P.M.) that it took place. He was at Cairo at that time when the French army, he says, came, ill-treated every one, “took all, and paid for nothing;” and he was there when the British army, with the Turkish force, drove them away. The British treated every person well, and paid for every thing. Such were his accounts, which, as we know well, are perfectly accurate.]

[Footnote 9: A span is 9 inches; 8 spans to a fathom. In Inta only 6 to the fathom.]

[Footnote 10: With the parts to which the trade is at present contemplated, the Romans and Egyptians, in the days of Ptolemy, seem to have been well acquainted. Of Africa he says, “Est autem illa pars mundi quæ Aphrica dicitur minor spacie quam Asiæ vel Europa: sed pro sua quantitate ditior est et mirabilior in quantitate. Nam in auro et gemmis ditissima, est similitur in frugibus, fructibus et olinis. Mirabilissima etiam producit bestiarum et hominem species et figuras,” &c.]

Transcriber's note:

The changes in the ERRATA regarding the text have been made.

pg 1, Changed: "_by Ptolemy, Ednisi_" to: "_Edrisi_"

pg 1, Changed: "_Sheabiddin, Macknisi, Batouta_" to: "_Mackrisi_"

pg 13, Added ” after "sunt Gir et Niger."

pg 14, Changed: "Arabian chroniclers, viz. Bukri and Mishundi"
to: "Mishuudi"

pg 32, Changed: "the kingom of Melli was situated" to: "kingdom"

pg 36, Changed: "Abulfeda also confirms is account" to: "this"

pg 40, footnote 5, Changed: "Amsterdam, 1669." to: "1662"

pg 42, Changed: "once powerful kingom of Eyeo" to: "kingdom"

pg 89, Changed: "9° 30′ east longitnde" to: "longitude"

pg 102, Changed: "river coutinue westward to Kassena" to: "continue"

pg 103, Changed: "where the ferrry men reside" to: "ferry"

pg 109, Changed: "will be beween Cano and Kashna" to: "between"

pg 123, Changed: "when the “_the water ran_" to:
"when “_the water ran_"

pg 167, Changed: "and 0′ 45′ west longitude" to: "0° 45′"

pg 168, Changed: "mouth of of the Rio Volta" to: "mouth of the"

pg 172, Changed: "Yahndi in north latitude 8° 38°" to: "8° 38′"

pg 174, Changed: "calculate the advaatages that would" to:
"advantages"

pg 177, Changed: "us the monoply of the trade" to: "monopoly"

pg 179, Changed: "empire can so well mantain" to: "maintain"

pg 234, Changed: "from the tribes of Tihesti" to: "Tibesti"

pg 246, Changed: "value of all Euro-ropean goods greater" to:
"European"

pg 272, Changed: "connection with Af-frica will never" to: "Africa"

pg 277, Changed: "prevent the apparent monoply" to: "monopoly"

Additionally, some changes in punctuation have been done silently.