The commodities here are few, more being got farther to the eastwards. At certain times of the year the Portuguese got gold and elephants’ teeth in exchange for rice, salt, beads, bells, garlick, French bottles, edge-tooles, iron barrs, and sundry specious trifles, but for your toyes they will not give gold in this place but victuals.” In 1615 Sierra Leone was visited by the _Unity_, a ship of 360 tons, of which William Cornelison Schonten was the master. This visit is described as follows:— “On the 1st August we came in sight of the high land of Sierra Leone, on the 21st of that month, as also of the island of Madre Bomba, which lies off the south point of Sierra Leone and north from the shallows of the island of St. Ann. This land of Sierra Leone is the highest of all that lie between Cape Verd and the coast of Guinea, and is therefore easily known. “On the 30th August they cast anchor in eight fathoms water on a fine sandy bottom near the shore and opposite a village or town of the negroes in the road of Sierra Leone. This village consisted only of eight or nine poor thatched huts. The moorish inhabitants were willing to come on board to trade, only demanding a pledge to be left on shore for their security, because a French ship had recently carried off two of the natives perfidiously. Aris Clawson, the junior merchant or supercargo, went accordingly on shore, where he drove a small trade for lemons and bananas in exchange for glass beads. “In the meantime some of the natives came off to the ship, bringing with them an interpreter who spoke many languages. They here very conveniently furnished themselves with fresh water, which poured down in great abundance from a very high hill, so that they had only to place their casks under the waterfall. There were here whole woods of lemon-trees, and lemons were so cheap that they might have had a thousand for a few beads and ten thousand for a few common knives, so that they easily procured as many as they wished, and each man had 150 for sea store. The 3rd September they found a vast shoal of fish resembling a shoemaker’s knife. They left Sierra Leone on the 4th September.” [Illustration: “THE HIGH LAND OF SIERRA LEONE,” WITH HILL STATION IN THE FOREGROUND.] The next recorded visit to Sierra Leone was that of the _Desire_, whose Master was Thomas Candesh, and this visit is described as follows:—