Observations Upon the Windward Coast of Africa: The religion, character, customs, &c. of the natives; with a system upon which they may be civilized, and a knowledge attained of the interior of this extraordinary quarter of the globe; and upon the natural and commercial resources of the country; made in the years 1805 and 1806; with an appendix, containing a letter to Lord Howick, on the most simple and effectual means of abolishing the slave tradeCorry, Joseph
History
Observations Upon the Windward Coast of Africa: The religion, character, customs, &c. of the natives; with a system upon which they may be civilized, and a knowledge attained of the interior of this extraordinary quarter of the globe; and upon the natural and commercial resources of the country; made in the years 1805 and 1806; with an appendix, containing a letter to Lord Howick, on the most simple and effectual means of abolishing the slave trade
Corry, Joseph
Africa, West -- Description and travel; Slave trade -- Africa
From July to October, the mean temperature in the river Gambia, by
Fahrenheit, has been from 90° in the morning to 100° at noon in the shade,
and during the same months at Sierra Leone from about 92° to 106°; but a
variety of local circumstances may give a greater or less degree of heat:
this however may serve to give a general idea of the temperature of these
countries. The island of Goree, for example, the island of Bance, and the
bay of Sierra Leone, are more healthy, enjoying the cooling sea breezes,
more than situations in the rivers more interior. The banks of all the
rivers in Africa, which I have visited, are enclosed by impenetrable
forests, marshes, and the closely combined mangrove tree, and it is but
seldom that the land forms an uneven dry surface on their borders.
Instances however in the Sierra Leone, Rio Pongo, &c. occasionally occur,
when the most picturesque scenery adorns the river.
From May to August, hurricanes or _tornados_, before described, prevail
upon the Windward Coast, and this phenomenon is to be met with from Cape
Verde to Cape Palmas. The months from November to March are remarkable for
the prevalence of east and north-east winds. When these winds, which are
called _harmatans_, set in, they are accompanied with a heavy atmosphere,
and are of a dry and destructive nature. Every description of vegetation is
blasted by their influence, and every object, animate and inanimate, feels
their powerful effects; the skin is parched and dried, and every feature is
shriveled and contracted. The most compact cabinet work will give way, the
seams of flooring open, and the planks even bend. Furniture of every sort
is distorted; in short, nothing escapes their dreadful power. The nights at
this period are cool and refreshing.
The months of July, August, September, and October are rainy, from the
equator to about the 20th degree of north latitude. Towards the equinoxial
they begin earlier, and make their progress to windward, but the difference
throughout the whole of the north tropic fluctuates little more or less
than 15 or 20 days. When the rains commence, the earth, before parched up
and consolidated into an impenetrable crust, by the powerful influence of
the sun and a long period of drought, is immediately covered with vermin
and reptiles of all sorts, creating a moving map of putrefaction. The
natives ascribe to these many of their diseases; but a further cause may be
added, namely, the great change from heat to cold, and the variations at
this season.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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