During a mortality which raged at Senegal while I was there, not a single gentleman or officer on shore was attacked, but out of eleven sailors belonging to the vessel in which I returned to Europe, six were taken off in the space of a month. It must be observed, however, that seamen, by the tyranny or neglect of the captains, by a bad or scanty diet, and by the other hardships they undergo, are often exposed to many causes of disease, which do not affect persons living regularly on shore, and which will ever more or less attend the service of monopolizing Companies, or individual merchants, who, _regardless of the lives of men_, make gain the sole object of their speculations.[6] It is remarked, that Europeans of a slender habit are generally found to be the most healthy on the coast of Guinea. From what I have been able to collect, it appears, that the rainy seasons follow the passage of the sun from the equator to either tropic, so as always to prevail in those places where the sun is vertical. East of Cape Palmas I am told they seldom set in before June, when the sun returns from the northern tropic; but to the westward of that Cape, and up the whole country, those seasons generally commence within the month of May, and continue for three or four months. In the beginning of this season, the earth being softened with the rain, the negroes till and sow their ground, and after the return of dry weather, they gather in their crops, an occupation they seldom abandon, even though allured by the most advantageous commerce. I have sufficient reason to believe, that were the coast cultivated to the extent of which the soil in general is susceptible, the climate would be much meliorated. CHAP. II. _Of the Soil._ The soil all along the coast is very unequal. From Cape Blanco down the coast, to the River Gambia, it is in general very sandy, but as the sand consists of broken shells, covered in many places with a rich black mould, it must be favourable to vegetation. The most barren places of this part of the country, except just on the sea shore, are covered with grass and bushes; and where the black mould is found, the vegetation is luxuriant, and the trees of vast dimensions. I have remarked, that the mountains are generally composed more or less of regular basaltes, exhibiting remains of most prodigious volcanoes, the eruptions of which greatly improve the soil around them. Hence the mountains and high grounds at Cape Emanuel, Goree, Cape Rouge, and other places lower down, are commonly very fertile. Where rice thrives best, the ground in general is low, marshy, and unhealthy. CHAP. III. _The Productions._