Remarks on the topography and diseases of the Gold Coast / by R. Clarke.

  • Clarke, Robert.
Date:
[1860]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the topography and diseases of the Gold Coast / by R. Clarke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    6* T0POGRjd'HY 'A'i!rD ''Dis]i;Ay^''6F''T^ GotD' c6ast. life'winds Mow''Wiffi regula^^ the land- winds, wliicli blow from the N. and N.N.W., and the sea-breeze, which blows from the S.W. and W.S.W., prevail, with slight interruption, throughout the year. The sea-breeze commences about nine or ten in the morning, declining about six in the evening; it ceases about eight or ten, when it is succeeded by the land-wind, which blows until six or eight in the morning. The sea-breeze, at the full and change of the moon, blows with greater force, and it is at aU times stronger than the land-wind. The sea-breeze is very refreshing; but the salubrity of the land- wind depends on the condition of the country over Avhich it blows ; for it becomes vitiated when it blows over jungles and swampy lands, but otherwise it is health-giving.: ' I may here observe that I have remarked that ifieil-advanced in life, and who had never been before in tropical climates, have a far better chance of living upon the Gold Coast, every- thing else being in other respects equal, than at Sierra Leone or the Gambia. Aged Europeans settling at either of these colonies incur an enormous risk. On the Gold Coast, they, on the contrary, geiierally enjoy good health, and are able to per- form their several duties efficiently. At the same time,' I acknowledge that the colonies of Sierra Leone and the Gambia enjoy great advantages in having good roads and markets, both of which are wanting on the Gold Coast. ' The Gold Coast has no navigable rivers of easy access with the interior of the country ; circumstance, combined with the terrific surf which washes its shores, and the want of roads, are causes which hitherto have greatly retarded its civiliz- ation. The present mode of travelling by hammock being very expensive, so much so that a journey of some ten miles costs nearly as much as to travel by third class train from London to Aberdeen. But, although the rivers upon the Gold Coast are unapproachable from the sea, on account of shifting sand banks, shoaling of the water, and bars at their mouths, they are never- theless capable of carrying on an extensive inland navigation with the greatest benefit to the people. The rivers tipon the Windward coast, westward of Cape Palmas, flow from the eastward; whereas those on the Gold Coast flow from the northward, or nearly at right angles. The principal river in the Leeward district is the Volta, which is a,bout a mile in breadth, and runs nearly north-west and south-east, separating the Aquapim from the Aquamboe country, and is supposed to be a branch of the river Tando or Prah, which is crossed by the Ashantees on their way to the, coast. The surf at the entrance of tlie Volta,renders it