From the change which has taken place in those villages since I saw them in 1817, I am satisfied, that a little time is alone necessary to enable the colony of Sierra Leone to vie with many of the West India islands, in all the productions of tropical climates, but particularly in the article of coffee, which has been already raised there, and proved by its being in demand in the English market to be of as good (if not superior) quality to that imported from our other colonies. That the soil on the mountains is well adapted to the growth of that valuable berry has been too well proved by the flourishing state of some of the plantations in the immediate vicinity of Free-town to need any comment of mine. Arrow-root has also been cultivated with advantage on some of the farms belonging to private individuals, and there can be no doubt of the capability of the soil to produce the sugar-cane, as some is already grown there, but whether it is of as good a description as that of the West Indies I cannot pretend to say, as the experiment had never been tried at Sierra Leone, at least to my knowledge. The cultivation of all these with the cotton, indigo, and ginger, could here be carried on under advantages which our West India islands do not enjoy, namely, the labour of free people, who would relieve the Mother Country from the apprehensions which are at present entertained for the safety of property in some of those islands, by revolt and insurrection amongst the slaves, and from the deplorable consequences of such a state of civil confusion; those people would, by receiving the benefits arising from their industry, be excited to exertions that must prove beneficial to all concerned in the trade, and conducive to the prosperity of the colony itself.