Adventures and Observations on the West Coast of Africa, and Its Islands; Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Madeira, Canary, Biafra, and Cape Ver (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1860 edition. Excerpt: ...and captives; cries of anguish from parents torn from their children, and from children torn from their parents; and of the sea being red with the blood of men, thrown a prey to the ravenous sharks which infest these waters, in order to lighten the slaver of her cargo on the approach of a man of war. Countless thousands will arise from these polluted waves when the sea shall give up her dead demanding eternal vengeance on their heartless murderers; and among these shall be mighty merchants and captains bearing the Christian name. While we are rolling on for Quita, which is still eighteen hours distant, we will indulge in a note of the comparative topography of the shores of the Gulf of Guinea. Passing along the coast of Liberia, we pointed out the volcanic formations and evidences of recent volcanic disturbanccs abundant about Monrovia (the coast of Sierra Leone belongs to the same period), and these are traceable as far as Cape Palmas. At Elmina, we enter a country, or surface rather, of a more ancient period, characterized by numerous conical hills and narrow valleys, and bearing abundantly formations of the plutonic and metamorphic systems: granite, gneiss, quartz, sandstone, etc.; and in the valleys, an auriferous or gold-bearing alluvium. The bluffs in the vicinity of Accra (that upon which the English fort stands we ascertained to be thirty-six feet high) indicate that their highest strata were once on a level with the sea, and during long periods received the action of the waves. This shows the elevation of this part of the coast also; an effect which likely was produced by the same forces which protruded volcanic matter, and more decidedly marked the surface on the coast further north. It has been thought that the shore of the Gold Coast...