_Lunæ, 27º die Junii, 1842._ MEMBERS PRESENT. Sir T. D. Acland. Mr. Aldam. Captain Fitzroy. Mr. Forster. Mr. W. Hamilton. Mr. Milnes. VISCOUNT SANDON in the chair. Captain the Honourable _Joseph Denman_, R. N., called in; and further examined. 6962. _Chairman._] Can you give the Committee any information with regard to the Kroo Coast; first as to the extent of the Kroo Coast?--The Kroo Coast, I conceive, begins at the river Cestros, the place known as St. George’s, where Mr. Spence had established a factory several years ago, which has been recently abandoned. The Kroomen occupy only five towns upon the coast at different places between the river Cestros and the Grand Cestros; to the northward of that the Bassa people lie intermixed with the Fishmen, and, occupying all the coast to the southward of the Grand Cestros, are the Fishmen, a different people from the Kroomen; they are often confounded with them, but there is a broad distinction between them. Intermixed with the five Kroo towns are many Fish places. The Kroomen occupy the interior of the country more than the Fishmen; the Fishmen are entirely upon the coast. Below Grand Cestros they are all Fish towns. The Fish people are much more numerous than the Kroomen. At a place called by the Fishmen Saucy Town, the natives from the interior fought their way down to the beach. 6963. What were they?--We have no means of knowing; they are quite different from any other races that we know of; at this the Fishmen are exceedingly angry, as they consider that they have a title to all the trade upon the coast. They have prohibited all trade with this place, and have committed many outrages against British vessels and others who have traded there in spite of their prohibition. The Fishmen are perfect pests to the trade upon the coast; they require keeping in order very much. 6964. Are they principally Kroomen or Fishmen who enter on board Her Majesty’s ships?--More Fishmen than Kroomen; we cannot employ them together. 6965. Is it the same with reference to mercantile vessels?--I am not aware, but I think the Fishmen are generally preferred, as they are more at home with boats and more accustomed to live on the water than the Kroomen. 6966. Do you call those principally Kroomen or Fishmen that live at Sierra Leone?--Both classes exist there, but I am not aware in what proportions; the Kroomen are preferred for domestic purposes; they are much more capable of attachment to white people. 6967. Have you any idea what the population is, whether of Fishmen or of Kroomen?--The population of the coast of Fishmen is much greater than that of Kroomen, but I always understood that the Kroomen ran a long way into the interior, and were an agricultural race; indeed if it was not so, I do not see how they could possibly exist against the hostility of the Fishmen, as their numbers on the sea-coast are very inferior; they are almost always at war.