"تجارة الرقيق في شرق أفريقيا" [‎٦‎٧] (١٠٨/٧٦)

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anotlier, and wliicli made travelling very unsafe, are now being
removed, so tliat one tribe is open to another; and they are travelling
together in the interior for mutual trade and intercourse, while the
farmers in many parts begin to feel security in the pursuit of their
peaceful occupations."
It would carry us beyond the limits of this article were we
to pursue the inquiry suggested by Mr. Venn through each of
the settlements ; we will therefore select Lagos for commercial
success, and Sierra Leone for moral and social condition, and
for influence upon surrounding tribes. Some details of Bishop
Crowther's last visits to the Niger will also supply interesting
particulars under this head.
In 1851 it became necessary to seize Lagos: it was the
last stronghold of the Slave Trade, and the port for the em
barkation of the slave gangs brought down from the Yoruba
country.
Various tribal disputes between the Egbas, whose capital is
Abeokuta, and the Yorubas of Ibadan have somew-hat inter
fered with the prosperity of Lagos ; but just as formerly it was
the port for the Slave Trade, so is it now the emporium for
all the legitimate traffic, which consists of the export of the
native products from the interior and the import of manufac
tured goods from Europe.
It was a liberated slave, Bishop Crowther himself, who
pointed out to the chiefs of the interior that the benni seeds,
palm kernels, ground nuts, palm oil, shea butter, and other
products so little prized by them, would be highly prized by
the English manufacturers. Efforts were also made to estab
lish the cultivation of cotton with some success, and what are
the results now ?
The following returns show the value of the imports and
exports, with the revenue and expenditure of Lagos, for the
years 1867, 1868, and 1869 :—
Imports. Exports. Eevenue. Expenditure.
£ s. d. £ 5. d. £ s. d. £
1867. 321,977 19 10 513,157 18 3 29,774 13 11 30,195
1868. 340,815 6 10 517,253 17 11 33,896 3 9 33,711
1869. 416,869 3 8 669,445 0 7 40,622 11 7 39,431
1,079,662 10 4 1,699,856 16 9