s. Extracts from the Correspondence of MR. JOHN KIZELL with GOVERNOR COLUMBINE, respecting his Negotiations with the Chiefs in the River Sherbro, and giving an Account of that River.

MR. KIZELL carried with him the following letter from Go vernor Columbine to the Chiefs in the Sherbro river, dated August, 1810.

"Friends,

"I have sent Mr. Kizell to visit you on my part, in order that you may communicate to him any thing that you may wish to say to me.

"With respect to the slave vessels which have been taken, they have been captured and condemned for breaking the laws of Great Britain, and for other reasons which it is not necessary for me to dwell upon just now.

"The laws of my country compel me to search all slave ships, and to deal with them according to the European law of nations and the acts of the British Parliament.

"You must be sensible that the Slave Trade cannot be carried on much longer; and therefore I earnestly hope and entreat that you will turn your views to the cultivation of your land, by which alone you can ever rise above the poverty which renders you so dependent on Europe.

"What has the Slave Trade produced for any of you? Can any one of you be said to be rich? Or is any one of you even in easy circumstances? No. Yet all this distress, and the depopulation of your country, arise merely from the sale of its inhabitants: instead of keeping the Africans to till their own soil, they are sent to till the colonies belonging to Europe.

"If the inhabitants of Europe had sold each other in a like manner, do you suppose that we should have had ships and fleets, and armies, and riches, as we now have? Certainly not.

"I hope you will allow my friend Mr. Kizell to have a

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sufficient portion of ground, or territory, for him to build a town, and to point out to you the proper mode of rearing those articles for trade, which will supply you with all European commodities. You cannot have the least reason to be jealous of him; he is one of yourselves; and he has the wel fare of you and his country very earnestly at heart: and I entreat you to forward his views as much as possible, and to join him in a noble endeavour to make yourselves and your children great, and your country happy.

"I shall leave the transaction entirely to yourselves, as I do not intend to send a single European to live in Mr. Kizell's intended town; but I shall furnish him with tools, &c. for cultivation.

"I have no personal advantage to derive from your taking my advice on this subject; it arises merely from a sincere wish to see Africa in a better condition than it is at present.

"I beg leave to observe, that Mr. Kizell is my friend and ally, and under my protection.

The following are extracts from the letters of Mr. Kizell to Governor Columbine :

September 30, 1810.

"I have got into the Sherbro. I have acted as I thought for the best. When I came to York Island, I saw Mr. Clevland: I gave him two gallons of rum and two bars of tobacco; and I then shewed him your letter. When he saw it he was glad: he said there never was a man that ever came to this country who spoke so well for the welfare of the people, and the hap piness of the country, as you do; and that this was his wish for these many years past: he said he hoped it would be carried on. Then he told me to go to the kings to see if they would give me land; if not, that he will give me land for such a noble work. Before that work should be disap pointed, he would give land himself. He said he would send all his sons to you and Mr. Dawes to bring them up, that

they may help me in that good work. He sent one of his head men with me to Sumano (a chief), to tell him that what the Governor says is all good and truth: and that they must hear what I say to them; for it is not from me, but from the Governor, who is a friend to that country.

"I went to Sumano with the head man. I gave him the things you sent for him: he was glad, and all his people. I then shewed them your letter. The young people were thankful for the word they heard, but there were some that did not like it. I then asked them, From the time your fathers began to sell slaves to this day, what have you got by it? Can any of you shew me how much money you have; how much gold; how many slaves, and vessels, and cattle; how many people you have?' They said, None. Then I turned to their king; I asked him in what was he better than his people? He said he was the poorest: he said he only talked palavers when any one brought them to him to talk. I then asked him, what they gave him for his trouble? He said, Nothing. I then told him, Our king wants to make you rich; and you must hearken to what he says.' He said, that my king talked right; he wanted the country to be free. He then promised that he would give land for that good work, but that he cannot do any thing before he sees all the rest of the kings.

I then left them, and went to Yohene; where I sent for old King Sherbro's son, who is my friend. I shewed him the things you had sent for the king: he was glad. I then shewed the letter to him: he said it was right. He told me to go with him into the town. We went. He called for him that stands as king, and all the people; and then he told me to read the letter to them. They said to me, 'That book you bring is good.' I then asked them if they never heard that there was an agreement between the King of England and King Sherbro? They said, 'Yes, it was as I said: they had the cane that was given to King Sherbro, at that time, now in their hands. The old people had told them that the King of England was to take care of them; and they were

not to be made slaves; but he had forgot them.' To these words I could not give them an answer: not that I did not know how to answer it, but I thought, if I did, I might not answer it as you might wish. So I told them they had better send a man to you themselves. I then told them to give me an answer to the letter: they said it was very good; but that they could not say any thing before they had seen Mr. Clevland. I told them I had been with him, and had shewed him this letter, and that he liked it well. They said they would go to him themselves before they gave me an answer; and when I came back from Kittam, I must call on them to receive their answer to carry to you.

"I then left them and went to Shebar. The Tuckers came to me, and I was obliged to do to them as I had done all along. Many people came to hear the news: I gave them a little rum and tobacco; then I shewed them the letter. They inquired, If you come to stop the Slave Trade, what shall we do for a living?' I answered, You and your people, as the Governor says to you, must all work, as other people do.' Then I told them they need not to look for any more slave ships here. I said this, knowing the Tuckers to be the greatest slave traders in Sherbro. They said it was hard; but if it was so, they would settle a price on their camwood and rice, and on all that they had. I told them, they could do as they pleased with their goods: if they had any thing to sell, and another man would not give them their price, they could keep it.

"I then went to Safer. There were 100 people there with the king. When I came, the first word was, 'Are you come? It is you that have got all the slave vessels taken out of our river. You are come to make war on us :' with much more to this effect. I told the king I was sent to him: why would he not hear what I had to say before he began to make these charges? There was a young man with the king, who said, Kizell says he is sent to you: why will you not wait till you hear what he has to say?' The king said this was right. I gave the Governor's letter to him. He said I

should not read it to him: he had a white man that could read it to him. He sent for Crundell*; and when he came, the letter was given to him. Crundell looked at it, and immediately cursed and swore, and raved: he told the king and his people that the Governor was a nuisance: He is like Buonaparte: he wants to take the country from you. As for Kizell, he is the worst man the Governor could pick out at Sierra Leone to send to you. Kizell is a troublesome, undermining man. The people of Sierra Leone want to take the country, as they have taken my goods from me,' (probably alluding to the capture of slave ships). I then got up and called Mr. Taylor, a mulatto man, who was present, to bear witness to all that Crundell had said, as he would, sooner or later, be called to account for it. I told him I knew he did not want the Slave Trade to stop he wished to kill the people's children and to drink their blood. He said he did not know what I meant. As for selling slaves, God had ordered them to sell slaves: if God did not like it, why did he not put a stop to it? I told him that God had ordered him not to swear: why did he not obey him in this too? Mr. Taylor then told him, that what he had said against the Governor was not right: the Governor loved the people, and did not like they should continue in slavery: the letter he had sent was a friendly letter: if Kizell had not been a trusty man, the Governor would not have sent him; Yet you, Crundell, tell the people not to hear him.' Crundell asked, why had they not rather sent him the act, and desired him not to sell slaves? but now he would sell slaves. I told him that he knew the law already, but that he wanted to fatten on the people's blood.

"I inquired if they did not know that there had been a treaty made in old time between the King of England and King Sherbro? Crundell told the people I was a liar; and that there was no such thing: Bance Island † had the grant for the country, and no one else; he belonged to that place, and the people must hearken to Bance Island. I told him I consider

* A British Slave Trader.

+ Formerly a great slave factory in the river Sierra Leone,