Comparative statement of number of vessels entered Bathurst during 1860 and

Number of vessels cleared from the port of Bathurst during 1861.

I have the honor to forward the following report in accordance with the consular instructions as contained in the 153d and 154th sections of the consular regulations.

The colony of Sierra Leone, ceded to the British in 1787 by the native Tunanch chiefs, embraced an extent of about 500 square miles. Its southern part, Cape Welling, lies in about 8° 10' north latitude, and its northern part, Freedin, lies in about 8° 30' north. It is mostly mountainous land, having an elevation of from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. It was first settled by a party of free blacks from Nova Scotia, in the year 1792, and their descendants to this day are called settlers in the colony.

The colony is divided into four districts: the first and second, and eastern, comprising the villages of Kissy, Wellington, Hastings Newlands, Allentown, Rokelle, Fraser Town, Dunham, and Waterloo; the mountain district, comprising Wilberforce, Murry Town, Aberdeen, Gloucester, Bathurst, Regent, and Charlotte. The Banana islands, dependencies of the colony, are also included in this district, and have the small villages of Dublin and Ricketts on them. The eastern district includes the villages of Hamilton, York, Goodrich and Kent. Each district is under charge of an officer styled manager, who is accountable to the colonial government in Freetown, the seaport and capital of the colony. The government of the colony is vested in a governor and a council of seven

members, all of whom hold colonial appointments under the home government, with the exception of one, a merchant of the colony, and all of whom are styled honorable. They are responsible only to the home government, and the laws they pass are submitted to the Queen and confirmed by her before the colonists are aware of their existence. The people of the colony have no voice whatever in their government, nor in the election of the members of council above mentioned.

The commerce of the country has fallen off considerably the past year, in consequence of the American difficulties and a failure of the ground-nut crop. For a test of the imports and exports of this colony I would refer you to the annual report from this consulate for the year 1860. The imports from the United States for the present year show a fair average with those of past years, if the general state of commerce is taken into consideration. The colony being to a great extent dependent on the United States for several of the staple articles of its trade, our difficulties have naturally interfered with the general facilities of trade. The following table gives a correct idea of the imports for the present

With the above imports we have sundry small consignments of gunny bags, corn meal, alewives, mackerel, salt fish, herring in barrels, gunpowder, butter, cheese, lard, biscuit, kerosene oil, kerosene lamps, paints, manilla and hemp cordage, onions, potatoes, pork, hams, oars, cheese, bedsteads, platform scales, small boats, brown and white sugar, wine bitters, cider, medicines, coal tar, tar, pitch, nails, trunks, cigars, &c., &c., amounting in the aggregate to about $50,000, giving a grand total of $313,742 50.

The exports to the United States for the same year show the following figures :

The excess of importations over exportations is accounted for by vessels taking specie and native gold; whence is not reported; and also by the reshipment of American goods in the same bottoms to adjacent rivers.

The subjoined table will show the amount of American tonnage employed in the trade between this colony and the United States :

The ground-nut crop for the past year has been a complete failure. In good seasons this is a very important item in the commerce of the colony, and attracts a large amount of French tonnage for its exportation. This article finds its best market in France, and in consequence of the very heavy differential duties in that country imposed on all foreign vessels, the carrying is monopolized by French shipping.

There has been considerable of the land about this colony ceded to the English during the past year. The territory in the Sherbro country, known as the Bendo, was ceded to this colony by Thomas Stephen Caulker, Sherbro chief, and her Majesty's steamship Falcon, Commander Hensage, took formal possesson of it on the 28th of March by hoisting the English flag and firing a royal salute. Tuesday, April 2, a treaty was concluded between Governor Hill, of this colony, and a native chief styling himself Bekkantah, King of Quia. By this treaty a portion of the Quia country, directly inland of the colony, about sixteen miles long and ten miles wide, is ceded to the colony, the King of Quia receiving an annual stipend of $100 as an equivalent.

Many of the chiefs of the Quia country, and especially those owning the particular portion of land, refuse to acknowledge the treaty, as they were not consulted with regard to it, and the so-called King of Quia had not the power to make such transfer of their country without their consent.

The chiefs have, without doubt, the best side of the argument, as the stipulations of the treaty were agreed to at public meeting at Freetown, when Beh Cautah and the chiefs with him had no option but to sign any article that might be put before them. An expedition was fitting out at this port for the purpose of punishing the chiefs of the Quia country, who had been guilty of several outrages upon quiet Sierra Leone traders. Beh Cautah and a few chiefs with him came to terms voluntarily to beg that their country might not be in

vaded, and to disavow the illegal acts above referred to. Advantage was taken of their presence in town to oblige them to sign the treaty, instead of the expedition invading their territory, and there dictating the terms of a treaty, and showing them there was the power to enforce it. As the chiefs in possession of the land disputed the English right to it, war was declared against them, and, after six weeks' hard fighting, the people were expelled with great loss of life and sacrifice of a great number of their towns, which were destroyed by fire. Another difficulty also arises from the treaty: it is, that the giving of the land to the English stops a much-frequented slave-path to the tribes of the coast above and below the colony. In fact, it is their only communication, and being deprived of it causes dissension and quarrelling among themselves. The war with the Quia country has not been at all popular in the colony. In the early part of November last a very large tract of country was added to this colony, and is now under its jurisdiction. It comprises nearly all the Sherbro country, which includes the Sherbro island, the Turtle islands, Bague, Manneu Bague, and Barley rivers, with their dependencies, and all lands adjacent to Bendo, the land ceded in March last.

On the 6th of August last, Lagos, a territory a short distance down the coast, was ceded to the English by Dacemo, King of Lagos. We now hear reports of trouble there, as he has become dissatisfied with what he then did. A few days since a company of soldiers passed down from the Gambia.

The French are very desirous of acquiring territory on this coast, and consequently look with a jealous eye on the late acquisitions to the British crown. The American difficulties having excited the fears of the cotton consumers in England, they are making every effort to be less dependent on the United States for supply. A company has been recently formed in England styled the "British and West African Company," with a capital of £100,000. Among other objects in view, is that of purchasing 10,000 acres of land in Sierra Leone for the purpose of raising cotton by free labor. Cotton of a very good quality grows spontaneously in the Sherbro, small lots of which have already found their way to the English market.

There have been but eight cases of slaves adjudicated in the courts of this colony for the last year, and only two of them had slaves on board.

The "Clara Windsor" arrived January 7, with five hundred and ninety slaves on board. She had when taken six hundred and seventy-seven, eightyseven having died on the passage to this port. The "Flight" (formerly the "Fairy," of New York) arrived May 31, with five hundred and two slaves on board. She had when taken five hundred and thirty-nine, thirty-seven having died on the passage. Of the slaves arriving here two hundred were sent to the Gambia, February 21. Three hundred and ninety-five were sent to the West Indies in the ship "Paterson," which sailed November 27.

Among the arrivals of vessels to this port the past year, were fifty English, eighteen French, and three Spanish men-of-war. During a residence of three years in this port, not a single American ship-of-war has visited the harbor. It is very desirable they should call at times, as our commerce is quite important and should not be left altogether without protection. I am frequently asked by residents, why, considering the importance of our commercial intercourse with the colony, a vessel of the United States is never seen in these

waters.

The petty wars among the native chiefs inland of the colony, the colonial war with the Quia people, the American difficulties stopping the supply of American goods, which are staple articles of trade, and the fear of war between Great Britain and the United States, altogether have a very depressing effect upon business generally.