CHAPTER II.
Bathurst founded.—Situation and Climate of Banjole.—Harmattans.-—
Description of the town of Bathurst.—Population.—Building
stone. — Gillyfree Albreda. — Slave dealing. — Me. Carthys
Island.—Account of the manners and costume of the Joloffs and
Mandingoes Gold. — Manufactures. — Music.—Dancing.: —
Horses.—¿Governments.—Alarms.
T h e few general remarks I have to offer upon the settlements
of the Gambia* arise from casual observation, and. are -so trivial,
that, if the spot were better known, I-should not attempt their
publication. The chief good which I can hope to arise from
them, will be that of interesting a future traveller to explore
further. I must confess, that even I could have done much more
under other circumstances; but before Mr. Bowdich’s seizure, I
was so completely occupied in botanical examinations and Arabic
translations, that I had not a moment for any thing else; his
fortnight’s illness was productive of so much fatigue, that, independent
of the great shock I received, total rest was absolutely
necessary; and the remainder of my stay was lingered out, notin
actual malady, hut in a constant struggle to assume such tranquillity
as would ensure me mental and bodily strength.
On giving the Island of Goree back to the French, it was the
intention to repair Fort James, for the residence of the English,
but it was in so shattered a state, that it was deemed more
advisable to establish a new settlement; and most assuredly, had
the whole river been searched, a worse situation in point of
healthiness, could not have been fixed on, than the Island of
Banjole. Its commercial advantages, however, were thought sufficient
to counterbalance the evils which had already driven the
natives from the place, and the town of Bathurst was founded in
1816.
Much has been done by making dikes, cutting the timber which
covered the island, and cultivating the soil'; but nothing can ever
totally eradicate the insalubrious exhalations arising from its
locality. It is so low, that the high tides, which occur in February
and March, continually encroach on the sand; and it is probable,
that some will hereafter regret having built houses so close upon
the shore.
Numerous creeks intersect the island, and when the tide retires,
leave stagnant pools; the soil, which reflects back the heat with
intensity, is in general sandy, with scattered patches of vegetable
mould, but alluvial and marshy in the neighbourhood of the
creeks, the half dried margins of which exhale a baneful miasma
that alone would generate fever, needing no addition to its
poisonous effects from' the bad quality of the water. The river,
in its whole extent, flows through a thickly-wooded country, and
the ■ mangroves penetrate far into its bed on each side; consequently,
the return of the tide brings with it a quantity of putrid
vegetable matter, which is continually deposited on the banks.
The only advantage which this Gambia settlement possesses, is its
exposure to the powerful north and north-west winds, blowing
directly from the sea; - They generally prevail from December till
May, but, when the rains commence, in the month of June, the
island is deprived of their purifying influence ; and it is this
temporary privation, admitting the accumulation of morbific prin-
2 D