Chapter XVI: Appendix: V

* * * * *

REPORTS AND LETTERS TOUCHING AMBAS BAY.

No. 1.

59 Fenchurch Street, August 15, 1856.

MY LORD,

I take the liberty of enclosing a memorandum on the High Land of Camaroons, the only position on the West Coast of Africa where immunity from tropical fever can be attained.

The great change that the suppression of the slave trade will make in our commercial relations with the Coast of Africa, adds greatly to the value of this position, as we have no port from Sierra Leone to the Cape, where, in case of war, a British vessel could find protection.

At present several British merchants have formed establishments at Fernando Po, as depôts for their trade with the mainland; but they are merely on sufferance, as the Spanish Government might at any time, by enforcing their tariff, render it impossible for them to continue.

I have no doubt that, if the British flag were hoisted at Amboises, it would, in a few years, be the Singapore of Western Africa from its position and climate.

I have, &c.

(Signed) M. LAIRD.

The Right Hon. the Earl Grey.

No. 2.

_Memorandum on the High Land of Camaroons, in the Bight of Biafra, as a site for a European Settlement, above the level of Tropical Fever._

1. The physical characteristic of the West Coast of Africa, and the principal cause of its unhealthiness to Europeans, is its slight elevation above the level of the sea. From the range of the Atlas to the Cape of Good Hope, a distance of nearly 6000 miles, with the exception of the high land of Camaroons, there is no land of sufficient elevation to secure immunity from the fatal African fever.

2. The high land of the Camaroons is situated at the extreme eastern point of the Gulf of Guinea, in longitude 8° 50′ E. and latitude 4° N., bounded on the W. by the Rio del Rey, and on the E. by the Camaroons River. The highest peak has an elevation of 13,700 feet; the Rumli and Qua mountains of great height are visible to the N., but no measurement of their elevation has yet been made: they all form apparently part of one great mountain-range stretching into the interior.

3. At the foot of the mountain of Camaroons, which abuts abruptly upon the sea, is the well-sheltered harbour of Amboises, capable of receiving the largest vessels, open to the sea-breeze, sheltered on the land side by nearly perpendicular cliffs of considerable height, and capable of being made a most complete naval station. The harbour was discovered in 1833, and surveyed by Captain Wm. Allen, R.N., of H.M.’s S.S. ‘Wilberforce,’ in 1842. A full description of it, with views of the surrounding scenery, is given in Captain Allen’s published narrative of the Niger Expedition of 1841. The land rises from the cliffs which form the landward side of the harbour, and attains an elevation of upwards of 5000 feet within five miles of it.

4. This is the only point upon the West Coast of Africa, N. of the Cape Colony, where a European settlement could be formed above the fever- level, which is presumed to be 4000 feet above the sea.

Its advantages are:—A good open harbour, accessible at all times to ships of the largest class, and easily descended.

A rapid ascent to a temperate climate, where tropical fever could not propagate itself.

A small and peaceable native population, confined to the low grounds.

A central position for all the trading ports from Whydah to Camaroons, being within 100 miles of the Niger, Bonny, and Calabar Rivers, where the bulk of the palm-oil trade is carried on.

In case of war, a settlement at this point would command the embouchures of all the rivers in the Bight of Biafra, and be a key to the only entrance into the continent that seems practicable by land.

5. From the twentieth parallel of south latitude to ten north, and for an average breadth of 25° of longitude, covering a space of nearly 3,000,000 square miles, lies the _terra incognita_ of Africa: to the modern as well as to the ancient world, the sources of the Nile, the Sharry, and the Congo, and the countries which for centuries have given out their people as slaves, are unknown; the deadly climate of the low ground has proved the impassable barrier to discovery.

It is possible that, from Camaroons, an expedition might reach in safety the elevated plateaus of Central Africa, and fill up the void that now appears in maps.

6. From the fifth parallel of north latitude to the Sahara and the plateau of Abyssinia in the east, the depression of the African continent is very remarkable. The Niger, with its course of 3500 miles, is only 1600 feet at its source above the level of the sea, and no travellers have recorded any mountains or even hills of considerable elevation; the highest seen on the Niger did not exceed 1500 feet.

South of the fifth parallel a very different state of things exists, and there is strong presumptive evidence that a continuous tract of elevated land runs from Camaroons to the Indian Ocean, extending S. to the limits of Cape Colony. The late discoveries made by travellers from the Cape prove that, as far as the twentieth parallel, Europeans are perfectly safe in the centre of the continent, while descending on the same parallel to the coast is eminently dangerous. The discovery of a snowy range, if correct, on the East Coast, close to the Equator, a latitude at which the limit of perpetual snow exceeds 18,000 feet, and the high land which abuts upon the Atlantic at Camaroons, all tend to show that the southern division of the continent will, when explored, offer a marked contrast in its physical development to the northern, and probably contains vast stores of mineral wealth. Copper ore finds its way in small quantities now to the coast.

7. It is not to be expected that Europeans would settle at Camaroons to grow tropical produce—they will naturally prefer a healthy tropical country for that purpose; nor will Africans. The climate of the low ground does not injure them. Its advantages will be appreciated by the merchant, who could transact his business at the port during the day, and sleep in pure air at night. This, with its safe harbour, will make it the centre of a great trade, and, by the naval service, who could always command a temperate climate for their invalids, without leaving the station. A hospital above the fever-level would be the means of saving many valuable lives annually.

The great value of this position to this country is undoubtedly its extraordinary adaptation for a penal settlement. Supposing, by that labour, a good road made to the superior land from the port, European prisoners might be kept there in perfect security; any attempt to escape would be defeated by the climate. They would displace no native population, for that is confined to the low ground. They would be completely isolated, and governed with greater ease than convict stations surrounded by white settlers. Employment could be found to any extent in cutting timber, making roads, and raising their own provisions.

As long as they remained in the high land they would be safe; the penalty for leaving it would be levied by nature herself. Ground could be allotted to the well behaved, and the great source of depravity would be removed by allowing intermarriage with the native women. A mixed race would be the result, which experience has found to be the most efficient way of improving mankind. As long as transportation continues, and the difficulty of finding a practical substitute for it is generally acknowledged, there is no part of the world where a convict can be placed with less injury to his fellow-creatures, and with greater chance of reformation for himself.

* * * * *

No. 3.

_Rev. Mr. Saker to Mr. Consul Hutchison._

Clarence, Fernando Po, June 30, 1858.

SIR,

The bay of Amboises we entered at 11 A.M., at its N.E. angle; we found an interior bay hidden from a great part of the principal anchorage, and its entrance not distinguished without a very near approach. The heavy headland that defends the great bay from S.W. storms, continues of the same elevation, and runs into the bay, forming its S.E. side, and terminates in a precipitous hill, shutting in the inner bay. Rocks run out from this point in the line of high land, and extend many yards towards the mainland, thereby narrowing the entrance to the bay.

On these rocks the surf beats heavily at times. On the mainland, too, a line of rocks extends in a direction to meet those spoken of above, thereby narrowing the entrance still more. These last rocks form a natural pier, on which may be built at small cost a platform for landing goods, &c. On the inner side of the pier, coal-ships and steam-vessels may be brought, and discharge or receive coal without delay or damage. Coals may be conveyed from the pier in carriages on an iron tramway into the sheds on the beach. The clear entrance to this inner bay is about half a mile wide, with five and six fathoms water. The shores of this bay are one continued line of sand, varying at low water from 50 to 100 yards in width, covered entirely with a tide which rises 9 feet on full and change. The water lies placid on the beach, and boats and small vessels can be brought to it at all seasons for examination and repair. This beach is covered by a level bank of two miles’ extent, on which may be built stores for coal and merchandize, sheds for artificers of all sorts, and slips for boatbuilding, &c.

The rocky pier forms the N.W. end of this bay, and from that point begins the N.E. shore of the greater bay, rocky and elevated. Beginning at the pier-end, a low table-land extends along the beach. Here can be built a town of large extent, open to the pure sea-breeze by day, and the mountain-air at night. This table-land is broken, at 330 yards from the pier, by a stream of pure water from the mountains, here finding its outlet into the sea. Two other streams of fresh water empty themselves in the inner bay, but the one first named might be conveyed by pipe to the pier-head.

A harbour equal to Amboises Bay, a locality so healthy, and a position for opening a trade with the interior tribes on this mountain-range of Central Africa, does not exist. The supposed want of a safe landing has alone prevented it being brought into notice.

In this place we seek to establish a home for our friends, who are, in effect, expelled from Clarence. There are great difficulties in the way, but with the aid of our friends in England, especially with the countenance and support of our Government, we shall overcome them all. The work before us, besides forming a home for our friends, is the following:—To establish at the foot of the mountain of Camaroons an English colony, to be the foundation of an English city. To make that colony the centre of religious enlightenment, civilization, and commerce, to be a barrier to slavery, oppression, and cruelty. To succeed we need first the lawful possession of a tract of land. This I have limited to our immediate wants; but we need more for expansion and security. We need that the whole mountain seaboard be the lawful possession of the British crown.

Her Majesty is now the acknowledged sovereign, but an honourable purchase from the present chief, who has been raised to authority by English officers, would prevent all future disputes.

This would be readily effected, and the purchase of an uninhabited wilderness, as the greater portion is, would be but a trifle. We need that H.M.’s Government sanction and sustain the effort by making this English colony and bay their local depôt. And the naval officers would be but too glad to make this exchange; as a sanitarium, and as a point of supply of provisions, Clarence cannot be compared to it.

The countenance and support of H.M.’s Government is so essential that, without it, I fear we shall fail; and I do trust that the objects we seek to accomplish will commend this effort to the favourable notice of H.M.’s Government and the Admiralty.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) ALFRED SAKER.