The British colony of Gambia comprises a considerable territory mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the river, Elephant’s Island about 100 miles from the sea, and Macarthy’s Island still further inland. The whole area under British authority is 21 square miles. The population in 1851 was stated at 5693, in 1861 at 6939, and in 1871 at 14.190 (7306 males and 6884 females). In the 15 years from 1860 to 1874 the total gross revenue was £268,232, making an annual average of £17,802; and the gross amount of public expenditure in the same period was £255,291, making an annual average of £17,019, or a total surplus of revenue over expenditure of £2941. In 1862,1863, and 1864 the liabilities exceeded the assets by £3638, £4817, and £5492 respectively, but there is no funded debt. The Gambia settlement, which formerly cost the imperial revenue from £20,000 to £25,000 per annum, now provides for its own defence,—an armed police force, recruited mainly from the Mahometan tribe of the Houssas, having been substituted since 1869 for the imperial troops. The parliamentary grant, which had averaged about £4200 per annum from 1860 to 1867, was reduced to £1500 in 1868, and finally withdrawn in 1871, and all expenses are met by the local revenue. The Gambia district was originally united with Sierra Leone on the dissolution of the African Company in 1822; in 1843 it was made a separate colony, the first governor being Henry Frowd Seagram; in 1868 it was reunited to Sierra Leone; and it is now governed by an administrator. The capital of the colony is Bathurst, a town on the eastern side of St Mary’s Island.

. St Mary’s Island lies at the mouth of the river on the south side, close to the mainland, from which it is separated by a stretch of mangrove swamp and a narrow’ arm of the river called Oyster Creek. It is about 15 miles in length by less than a mile in breadth, and consists of a slightly elevated plain of sandy soil, which in the dry season becomes a bed of hot and shifting dust. There are naturally not many trees on the island, though a few cocoa-nuts, palms, papaws, willows, bananas, oleanders, and guavas manage to maintain a precarious existence. The Barbados pride, however, flourishes luxuriantly (Captain Hewitt). Bathurst is on the whole a well-built town, the principal material employed being a dirty red sandstone coated with whitewash. It lies about 12 or 14 feet above the level of the river. The market house is built of iron, and the market place was planted with trees in 1869. Besides the Government house and the barracks, there is a hospital founded by General Macdonnell, a court-house, and an Episcopal church completed about 1869. The population of the town is of a very motley description, including, besides the white officials, and traders to the number of about 50, half-castes of all shades, liberated negroes, Jolloffs, Barras, and other local tribes. The part of the mainland immediately contiguous to St Mary’s is known as British Combo, an area of about 6 miles long by from 2 to 3 miles broad having b’een secured by treaty with the king of Combo in 1853.

M i Carthy ’ s Island lies about 180 or 200 miles above St Mary’s. It is about 5∣ miles in length and 1 in breadth. There are two or three “factories,” a considerable trading town, peopled partly by liberated Africans, a fort, a Methodist church, and a schoolhouse. Though this was the last spot actually in British possession, it was long understood by Gambia traders that they were under British protection much farther up the stream; but, according to the de. spatches of Lord Carnarvon in 1877, they must proceed at their own risk as soon as they advance beyond British territory. St James’s Island, which was the seat of the British factory in the 18th century, is about 17 miles from St Mary’s. It still bears traces of European occupation, but is gradually being washed away by the river.

The chief exports are ground nuts, wax, hides, ivory, gold dust, palm oil, and gum arabic; but even these are obtained in quantities that look ridiculously small when the natural richness of the country through which the Gambia flows is considered. At the close of the 18th century only two or three ships were employed in the trade; in 1839 no fewer than 239 merchant vessels visited the river; and in 1871 75 British and 154 foreign vessels entered, with a total tonnage of 51,853 tons. During the four rainy months, from July to October, the native trader conveys his employer’s rice or corn up the river, and receives in exchange the pagnes or country cloths; in November he barters these same cloths for ground nuts, hides, and wax; and for the rest of thé year, till the rainy season comes round again, he supplies the natives with arms, powder, rum, Madras handkerchiefs, and other European productions. The French traders, however, who are gradually getting a large share of the commerce into their hands, have introduced the custom of money transactions, and the innovation is well received by the natives.

The trade in ground nuts is of comparatively recent development. In 1836 the value exported was only £838; in 1837 it reached £8053, and in 1840 no less than £15,209. In 1860 the value was £79,611, and in 1861 £101,060. The average quantity between 1850 and 1860 was 11,196 tons; between 1870 and 1877 it was 14,000 tons. The supply is greatly affected by the political state of the country in which the nuts are grown. Most of the necessary tillage is performed by the tribe of the Sera-Woullis, who come down from the interior in great numbers, and return home when they have earned what they desire. The French markets are the principal destination of the nuts. American traders deal mainly in hides, horns, and beeswax; and the honey is chiefly purchased for the German market. The Roman Catholics maintain a mission and a small convent in the Gambia, and the Wesleyans ha,ve long had a number of stations. The latter have done great service to education in the colony,—their 10 schools, as far back as 1860, being attended by 1273 scholars. It was not till 1869 that, even at Bathurst, a Government school was established; but there are now several schools in connexion with the Episcopal church. The Roman· Catholics began the erection of a large schoolhouse in 1873.

The Gambia was visited by the Carthaginian explorer Hanno, and it became early known to the Portuguese discoverers; but it was not till 1618 that English traders began to turn their attention to this quarter. Iu that year a company was formed for the exploration of the river. Richard Thompson was sent out in the “Catherine,” and succeeded in reaching Kassan, a Portuguese trading town, but he never returned, and his fate is not known. Two years afterwards, Richard Jobson advanced beyond the falls of Barraconda; and he was followed, about 40 years later, by Vermuyden, a Dutch merchant. In 1723 Captain Stibbs was sent out by the African Company to verify Vermuyden’s reports of gold; he proceeded 60 miles above the falls. The treaty of Versailles in 1783 assigned the light of trade in the Gambia to Britain, reserving the single port of Albreda for the French; while at the same time it assigned the Senegal to France, and reserved the port of Portendic for the British. By the treaty of Paris in 1851 this arrangement was re-established, and it remained in force till 1857, when an exchange of possessions was effected, and the Gambia became a purely British river. In 1870 there was a proposal to transfer the colony to the French; but it led to nothing more than a voluminous diplomatic correspondence.

See Astley’s Collection, vol. ii.; R. R. Madden’s Report to the Government in 1841; T. E. Poole, Life in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, 1850; L. Borel, Voyaged la Gambie, 1865; and the Parliamentary Papers relating to Her Majesty’s Colonial Possessions.