Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
SIERRA LEONE
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: SHA-SIV
del.icio.us it!
|
SIERRA LEONE , a See also:British See also:colony and See also:protectorate on the See also:west See also:coast of See also:Africa. It is bounded W. by the See also:Atlantic, N. and E. by See also:French See also:Guinea and S. by See also:Liberia. The coast-See also:line, following the indentations, is about 400 M. in length, extending from 9° 2' N. to 6° 55' N. It includes the See also:peninsula of Sierra Leone—23 m. See also:long with an See also:average breadth of 14 m.—Sherbro See also:Island, Bance, See also:Banana, Turtle, See also:Plantain and other See also:minor islands, also See also:Turner's Peninsula, a narrow See also:strip of See also:land southward of Sherbro Island, extending in a S.E. direction about 6o m. Except in the Sierra Leone peninsula, Sherbro Island and Turner's Peninsula, the colony proper does not extend inland to a greater See also:depth than See also:half a mile. The protectorate, which adjoins the colony to the See also:north and See also:east, extends from 7° N. to 1o° N. and .from ro° 40' W. to 13° W., and has an See also:area of rather more than 30,000 sq. m., being about the See also:size of See also:Ireland. (For See also:map, see FRENCH WEST AFRICA.) The See also:population of the colony proper at the 1901 See also:census was 76,655. The population of the protectorate is estimated at from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000. See also:Physical Features.—Sierra Leone is a well-watered, well-wooded and generally hilly See also:country. The coast-line is deeply indented in its See also:northern portion. Here the See also:sea has greatly eroded the normal See also:regular, harbourless line of the west coast of Africa, forming bold capes and numerous inlets or estuaries. The Sierra Leone peninsula is the most striking result of this marine See also:action. North of it are the Sierra Leone and Scarcies estuaries; to the See also:south is Yawry See also:Bay. Then in 7° 30' N. Sherbro Island is reached. This is succeeded by Turner's Peninsula (in reality an island). The seaward faces of these islands are perfectly regular and indicate the See also:original See also:continental coast-line. T hey have been detached from the mainland partly by a marine inlet, partly by the See also:lagoon-like creeks formed by the See also:rivers. In the Sierra Leone peninsula the hills come down to the sea, else-where a See also:low coast See also:plain extends inland 30 to 50 M. The See also:plateau which forms the greater See also:part of the protectorate has an See also:altitude varying from 800 to 3000 ft. On the north-east border by the See also:Niger See also:sources are mountains exceeding 5000 ft. The most fertile parts of the protectorate are Sherbro and Mendiland in the south-west. In the north-west the See also:district between the See also:Great Scarcies and the Rokell rivers is See also:flat and is named Bullom (low land). In the south-east bordering Liberia is a See also:belt of densely forested hilly country extending 5o m. S. to N. and very sparsely inhabited. The See also:hydrography of the country is comparatively See also:simple. Six large rivers—3oo to 500 m. long—rise in the Futa Jallon See also:highlands in or beyond the northern frontier of the protectorate and in whole or in part See also:traverse the country with a See also:general S.W. course; the Great and Little Scarcies in the north, the Rokell and Jong in the centre and the Great Bum and Sulima in the south. These rivers are navigable for See also:short distances, but in general rapids or cataracts See also:mark their See also:middle courses. The Great Scarcies, the Rio dos Carceres of the Portuguese, rises not far from the sources of the See also:Senegal. Between 9° 50' and 9° 15' N. it forms the boundary between the protectorate and French Guinea; below that point it is wholly in British territory. The Little Scarcies enters Sierra Leone near Yomaia, in the most northerly part of the protectorate. Known in its upper course as the See also:Kabba, it flows through See also:wild rocky country, its See also:banks in places being 900 ft. high. After piercing the hills it runs parallel with the Great Scarcies. In their See also:lower reaches the two rivers—both large streams—traverse a level plain, separated by no obstacles. The mouth of the Little Scarcies is 20 M. S. of that of the Great Scarcies. South of the See also:estuary of the Scarcies the deep inlet known as the Sierra Leone See also:river forms a perfectly safe and commodious See also:harbour accessible to the largest vessels. At its entrance on the See also:southern See also:shore lies See also:Freetown. Into the estuary flows, besides smaller streams, the Rokell, known in its upper course as the Seli. The broad estuary which separates Sherbro Island from the mainland, and is popularly called the Sherbro river, receives the Bagru from the N.W. and the Jong river, whose headstream, known as the Taia, Pampana and Sanden, flows for a considerable distance east of and parallel to the Rokell. The sources of the Taia, and those of the Great Bum, are near to those of the Niger, the See also:watershed between the coast streams and the Niger See also:basin here forming the frontier. The See also:main upper See also:branch of the Great Bum (or Sewa) river is called the Bague or Bagbe (See also: One of its headstreams, the Meli, rises in French Guinea in to 30' W. 9° 17' N. and flows for some distance parallel to the See also:infant Niger, but in the apposite direction. It joins the Moa within Sierra Leone. The main upper stream of the Moa separates French Guinea and Liberia and enters British territory in to° 40' W. 8° 20' N. Only the lower course is known as the Sulima. Between 7° 40' and 7° 20' are lacustrine reaches. Six See also:miles S. of the mouth of the Sulima the Mano or Bewa river enters the sea. It rises in Liberia, and below 7° 30' N. forms the frontier between that See also:republic and the protectorate. The Sierra Leone peninsula, the site of the See also:oldest British See also:settlement, lies between the estuary of the same name and Yawry Bay to the south. It is traversed on its seaward See also:face by hills attaining a height of 1700 ft. in the See also:Sugar See also:Loaf, and nearly as much in See also:Mount Herton farther south. The hills consist of a See also:kind of See also:granite and of beds of red See also:sandstone, the disintegration of which has given a dark-coloured ferruginous See also:soil of moderate fertility. Sugar Loaf is timbered to the See also:top, and the peninsula is verdant with abundant vegetation.
See also:Climate.—The coast lands are unhealthy and have earned for Sierra Leone the unenviable reputation of being " the white See also:man's See also:grave." The mean See also:annual temperature is above 8o°, the rainfall, which varies a great See also:deal, is from 15o to 18o or more inches per annum. In 1896 no fewer than 203 in. were recorded. In 1894 , a " dry " See also:year, only 144 in. of See also:rain See also:fell. In no other part of West Africa is the rainfall so heavy. See also:December, See also:January, See also:February and See also: The See also:frankincense tree (Daniellia thurifera) reaches from 50 to 150 ft., the See also:negro See also:pepper (Xylopia Aethiopica) grows to about 6o ft., the fruit being used by the natives as pepper. There are also found the See also:black pepper plant (See also:Piper Clusii), a climbing plant abundant in the See also:mountain districts; the grains of See also:paradise or melegueta pepper plant (Amomum Melegueta) and other Amomums whose fruits are prized. Of the Apocynaceae the See also:rubber See also:plants are the most important. Both Landolphia See also:florida and Landolphia owaricnsis are found. Of several fibre-yielding plants the so-called aloes of the orders Amaryllidaceae and See also:Liliaceae are See also:common. The See also:kola (Cola acuminata) and the See also:bitter kola (Garcinia cola), the last having a fruit about the size of an See also:apple, with a flavour like that of See also:green See also:coffee, are common. Of dye-yielding shrubs and plants camwood and See also:indigo may be mentioned; of those whence See also:gum is obtained the See also:copal, See also:acacia and African tragacanth (Sterculia tragacantha). Besides the oil-palm, oil is obtained from many trees and shrubs, such as the benni oil plant. Of fruit trees there are among others the See also:blood-See also:plum (Elaematostaphis Barteri) with deep See also:crimson fruit in See also:grape-like clusters, and the Sierra Leone See also:peach (Sarcocephalus esculentus). The coffee and cotton plants are indigenous; of See also:grasses there are various kinds of See also:millet, including Paspalum See also:exile, the so-called hungry See also:rice or Sierra Leone millet. Ferns are abundant in the marshes. See also:Bright coloured See also:flowers are somewhat rare. See also:Fauna.—The wild animals include the See also:elephant, still found in large See also:numbers, the See also:leopard, See also:panther, See also:chimpanzee, See also:grey monkeys, See also:antelope of various kinds, the See also:buffalo, wild hog, See also:bush See also:goat, bush See also:pig, See also:sloth, See also:civet and See also:squirrel. The See also:hippopotamus, manatee, See also:crocodile and See also:beaver are found in the rivers, and both land and fresh-water tortoises are common. Serpents, especially the See also:boa-constrictor, are numerous. Chameleons, lizards and iguanas abound, as do frogs and toads. Wild birds are not very common; among them are the See also:hawk, See also:parrot, See also:owl, See also:woodpecker, See also:kingfisher, green See also:pigeon, African See also:magpie, the See also:honey-sucker and See also:canary. There are also wild See also:duck, geese and other water See also:fowl, hawk's See also:bill, laggerheads and partridges. Mosquitoes, termites, bees, ants, centipedes, millipedes, locusts, grasshoppers, butterflies, dragonflies, sandflies and See also:spiders are found in immense numbers. Turtle are common on the southern coast-line, See also:sand and See also:mangrove oysters are plentiful. See also:Fish abound; among the common kinds are the bunga (a sort of See also:herring), skate, grey See also:mullet and tarpon. Sharks infest the estuaries. Inhabitants.—Sierra Leone is inhabited by various negro tribes, the See also:chief being the Timni, the Sulima, the Susu and the Mendi. From the Mendi district many curious steatite figures which had been buried have been recovered and are exhibited in the British Museum. They show considerable skill in See also:carving. Of semi-negro races the See also:Fula inhabit the region of the Scarcies. Freetown is peopled by descendants of nearly every negro tribe, and a distinct type known as the Sierra Leoni has been evolved; their See also:language is See also:pidgin See also:English. Since 19oo a considerable number of Syrians have settled in the country as traders. Most of the negroes are pagans and each tribe has its See also:secret See also:societies and fetishes. These are very powerful and are employed often for beneficent purposes, such as the regulation of See also:agriculture and the palm-oil See also:industry. There are many See also:Christian converts (chiefly Anglicans and Wesleyans) and Mahommedans. In the protectorate are some See also:Mahommedan tribes, as for instance the Susu. The See also:majority of the Sierra Leonis are nominally Christian. The See also:European population numbers about 500. Towns.—Besides Freetown (q.v.) the See also:capital (pop., 19or, 34,463), the most important towns for European See also:trade are Bonthe, the See also:port of Sherbro, Port Lokko, at the See also:head of the navigable See also:waters of a stream emptying itself into the Sierra Leone estuary, and Songo See also:Town, 30 M. S.E. of Freetown, with which it is connected by railway. In the interior are many populous centres. The most noted is Falaba, about rqo m. N.E. of Freetown on the Fala river, a tributary of the Little Scarcies. It lies about 1600 ft. above the sea. Falaba was founded towards the end of the 18th See also:century by the Sulima who revolted from the Mahommedan Fula, and its warlike inhabitants soon attained supremacy over the neighbouring villages and country. Like many of the native towns it is surrounded by a loopholed See also:wall, with flank defences far the See also:gates. The town is the See also:meeting-See also:place of many trade routes, including some to the middle Niger. Kambia on the Great Scarcies is a place of some importance. It can be reached by See also:boat from the sea. On the railway See also:running S.E. from Freetown are Rotifunk, Mano, and Bo, towns which have increased greatly in importance since the See also:building of the railway. Agriculture and Trade.—Agriculture is in a backward See also:condition, but is being See also:developed. The See also:wealth of the country consists, however, chiefly in its indigenous trees of economic value—the oil-palm, the kola-See also:nut tree and various kinds of rubber plants, chiefly the Landolphia owariensis. The crops cultivated are rice, of an excellent quality, See also:cassava, See also:maize and See also:ginger. The cultivation of coffee and of native See also:tobacco has been practically abandoned as unremunerative. The sugar See also:cane is grown in small quantities. The ginger is grown mainly in the colony proper. Minor products are benni seeds, pepper and piassava. The oil-palm and kola-nut tree are especially abundant in the Sherbro district and its See also:hinterland, the Mendi country. The palms, though never planted, are in practically unlimited numbers. The nuts are gathered twice a year. Formerly groundnuts were largely cultivated, but this industry has been superseded by exports from See also:India. Its place has been taken to some extent by the extraction of rubber. The cotton plant grows freely throughout the protectorate and the See also:cloth manufactured is of a See also:superior kind. See also:Exotic varieties of cotton do not thrive. Experiments were made during 1903–1906 to intro-duce the cultivation of See also:Egyptian and See also:American varieties, but they did not succeed. See also:Cattle are numerous but of a poor breed; horses do not thrive. The chief export is palm kernels, the amount of palm oil exported being comparatively slight. Next to palm products the most valuable articles exported are kola-nuts—which go largely to neighbouring French colonies—rubber and ginger. The imports are chiefly textiles, See also:food and See also:spirits. Nearly three-fourths of the imports come from Great Britian, which, however, takes no more than some 35 °/o of the exports. About 10% of the exports go to other British West African colonies, See also:Germany, which has but a small See also:share of the import trade, takes about 45% of the exports. The value of the trade increased in the ten years 1896–1905 from £943,000 to £1,265,000. In 1908 the imports were valued at £813,700, the ex-ports at £?36,700. The development of See also:commerce with the See also:rich regions north and east of the protectorate has been hindered by the diversion of trade to the French port of Konakry, which in 1910 was placed in railway communication with the upper Niger. Moreover, the main trade road from Konakry to the middle Niger skirts the N.E. frontier of the protectorate for some distance. Sierra Leone is thus forced to look to its economic development within the See also:bounds of the protectorate. Communications.—See also:Internal communication is rendered difficult by the denseness of the " bush " or See also:forest country. The rivers, however, afford a means of bringing country produce to the seaports. A railway, See also:state owned and the first built in British West Africa, runs S.E. from Freetown through the fertile districts of Mendiland to the Liberian frontier. Begun in 1896, the line reached Bo (136 m.) in the oil-palm district in 1903, and was completed to Baiima, 15 M. from the Liberian frontier—See also:total length 221 m.—in 1905. The See also:gauge throughout is 2 ft. 6 in. The line cost about £4300 per mile, a total of nearly f1,000,000. Tramways and " feeder roads " have been built to connect various places with the railway; one such road goes from railhead to Kailahun in Liberia. Telegraphic communication with See also:Europe was established in 1886. Steamers run at regular intervals between Freetown and See also:Liverpool, See also:Hamburg, See also:Havre and See also:Marseilles. In the ten years 1899–1908 the See also:tonnage of See also:shipping entered and cleared rose from 1,181,000 to 2,046,000. See also:Administration, See also:Revenue, &c.—The country is administered as a See also:crown colony, the See also:governor being assisted by an executive and a legislative See also:council; on the last-named a minority of nominated unofficial members have seats. The See also:law of the colony is the common law of See also:England modified by See also:local ordinances. There is a denominational See also:system of See also:primary and higher See also:education. The See also:schools an
inspected by See also:government and receive grants in aid. In 1907 there were 75 assisted elementary schools with nearly 8000 scholars. Furah Bay See also:College is affiliated to See also:Durham University. There is a Wesleyan Theological College; a government school (established 1906) at Bo for the sons of chiefs, and the See also: In 1906 there was a public See also:debt of £1,279,000.
Freetown is the headquarters of the British See also:army in West Africa, and a force of See also:infantry, See also:engineers and See also:artillery is maintained there. The colony itself provides a See also:battalion of the West African Frontier Force, a See also:body responsible to the Colonial See also:Office.
The protectorate is divided for administrative purposes into districts, each under a European See also:commissioner. Throughout the protectorate native law is administered by native courts, subject to certain modifications. Native courts may not deal with See also:murder, See also:witchcraft, See also:cannibalism or See also:slavery. These cases are tried by the district commissioners or referred to the supreme See also:court at Freetown. The tribal system of government is maintained, and the authority of the chiefs has been strengthened by the British. Domestic slavery is not interfered with.
See also:History.—Sierra Leone (in the original Portuguese See also:form Sierra Leona) was known to its native inhabitants as Romarong, or the Mountain, and received the current designation from the Portuguese discoverer Pedro de Sintra (1462), either on See also:account of the " See also:lion-like " See also:thunder on its See also: English traders were established on Bance and the Banana islands as long as the slave trade was legal. The existing colony has not, however, grown out of their establishments, but owes its See also:birth to the philanthropists who sought to alleviate the See also:lot of those negroes who were victims of the See also:traffic in human beings. In 1786 Dr See also: The slave trade having in the same year been declared illegal by the British See also:parliament, slaves captured by British vessels in the neighbouring seas were brought to Freetown, and thus the population of the colony See also:grew. Itsdevelopment was hampered by the frequent changes in the governorship. See also:Sydney See also: Many colonists took to trade, and notwithstanding numerous collisions with neighbouring tribes the settlement attained a measure of prosperity. Among the leading agents in spreading See also:civilization were the missionaries sent out from 1804 onwards by the See also: The See also:necessity for fixing the frontier in this direction was emphasized by the Waima incident. Both French and British military expeditions had been sent against the Sofas—Moslem mercenaries who, under the chieftainship of Fulas or Mandingos like Samory, ravaged the hinterland both of Sierra Leone and French Guinea. On the 23rd of December 1893 a British force was encamped at Waima. At See also:dawn it was attacked by a French force which mistook the British troops for Samory's Sofas (See also:save the officers the soldiers of both parties were negroes). Before the See also:mistake was discovered the British had lost in killed three officers—Captain E. A. W. Lendy, Lieut. R. E. See also:Liston and Lieut. C. Wroughton—and seven men, besides eighteen wounded. The French also suffered heavily. Their See also:leader Lieut. Maritz was brought into the British See also:camp mortally wounded, 1 The Anglo-Liberian frontier, partly defined by treaty in 1885, was not delimitated until 1903 (see LIBERIA). The Waima incident. and was buried by the British. Steps were taken to prevent the occurrence of any further conflicts, and an agreement defining the frontier was signed in January 1895. This agreement finally shut out Sierra Leone from its natural hinterland. In 1896 the frontier was delimitated, and in the same year (26th of August 1886) a See also:proclamation of a British protectorate was issued. To this See also:extension of authority no opposition was offered at the time by any of the chiefs or tribes. Travelling commissioners were appointed to explore the hinterland, and frontier See also:police were organized. The abolition of the slave trade followed; and with the introduction of the protectorate See also:ordinance in 1897 a house tax of 5s. each was imposed, to come into operation in three districts on the 1st of January 1898. Chief See also:Hai Bureh, in the Timni country, See also:broke out into open war, necessitating a military punitive expedition. After strenuous fighting, in which the British casualties, including sick, reached 600, he was captured (14th of November 1898) and deported. Meantime (in April 189S) the Mendi tribes rose, and massacred several British and American missionaries, including four ladies, at Rotifunk and Taiama, some native officials (Sierra Leonia) in the Imperri district, and a large number of police throughout the country. Speedy retribution followed, which effectually put down the revolt. Sir See also:David P. See also:Chalmers was appointed (July 1898) royal commissioner to inquire into the disturbances. He issued a See also:report, July 1899, deprecating the See also:imposition of the house tax, which was not, however, revoked. The disturbances would appear to have arisen not so much from dislike of the house tax per se as irritation at the arbitrary manner in which it was collected, and from a See also:desire on the part of the See also:paramount chiefs (who chafed at the suppression of slave trading and slave raiding, and who disseminated a powerful fetish "swear," called " Poro," to compel the See also:people to join) to See also:cast off British See also:rule. After the suppression of the rising (January 1899) confidence in the British administration largely increased among the tribes, owing to the care taken to preserve the authority of the chiefs whilst safeguarding the elementary rights of the people. The building of the railway and the consequent development of trade and the introduction of European ideas tended largely to modify native habits. The See also:power of See also:fetishism seemed, however, unaffected. See H. C. Lukach, A Bibliography of Sierra Leone (See also:Oxford 1911); Sir C. P. See also:Lucas, See also:Historical See also:Geography of the British Colonies, vol. in. (2nd ed., Oxford, 1900) ; T. J. Alldridge, The Sherbro and its Hinterland (London, 1901), and A Transformed Colony (London, 1910)—the last with valuable notes on secret societies and fetish; Winwood Reade, The African See also:Sketch See also:Book, vol. ii. (London, 1873); Colonel J. K. Trotter, The Niger Sources (London, 1898) ; See also:Major J. J. Crook, History of Sierra Leone (See also:Dublin, 1903)—a concise account of the colony to the end of the 19th century. For See also:fuller details of the See also:foundation and See also:early history of the settlement consult Sierra Leone after a See also:Hundred Years (London, 1894) by E. G. See also:Ingham, See also:bishop of the See also:diocese, and The Rise of British West Africa (London, 1904) by See also:Claude George. Bishop Ingham's book contains long extracts from the See also:diary of Governor Clarkson, which vividly portray the conditions of See also:life in the infant colony. For the rising in 1898 see The Advance of our West African See also:Empire (London, 1903) by C. B. See also:Wallis. A See also:Blue Book on the affairs of the colony is published yearly at Freetown and an Annual Report by the Colonial Office in London. Maps on the See also:scale of 1 : 250,000 are published by the War Office. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] SIERO |
[next] SIERRA MORENA, THE |