JAMIESON'S APPEAL AG AINST TImE NIDER EXPEDITION.

Tins small publication is full of important matter. It is an appeal to the Colonial Minister, entreating him not to destroy a growing

branch of our commerce by promoting an it which pro- fessedly contemplates the regeneration of Affica, but which can only serve to involve this country in relations at once ludicrous and expensive, and to increase tile means of Government jobbing. It is an appeal to which that Minister has turned a deaf ear, and which IS therefore 11014" made in last resort to the nation at large. Mr. JAMIESON examines the grounds upon which the Parlia- mentary grant of 61,0001. to meet the out and expenses of the Niger Expedition is vindicated by Sir Fowmi. Iliwrox and his " Society tbr effecting the Extinction of the Slave-trade and fbr promoting the Civilization of' Africa." These grounds, as recapi- tulated by Mr. JAM iEsoN front Sir FowELL's bool: are briefly- " First, the success, such as it is which has attended the colony. of Sierra Leone, and the benefits which migiat result to Africa, if the experiment ' were ' tried tor a buyer scale' on the hanks or the Niger : and, " Secondly, the necessity of supi Cr i i the slave-trailie in the Bights of BenM and Biafra; frmn whence, it Is represented, there is, to thc exclosioo of knifinntte commerce, an export of li iii fir, anitually.

'lime former of these grounds Air. .l.kAttEsoN disposes of briefly and conclusively as follows- " NOW, it is not needful for its to speak or t Ii ii yr of civilization ' Me alluded to. Neither shall we here allude to t hr rs! advancement of the colony, farther than to request the reada r's ion to the facts. That of the paltry amount of its total annual exports to nil -1101Vii ill

the official table subsequently refintred to, only to thit viii ii: of 4.::;7/. can be considered as the production of the soil from labour : that the article of cotton wool, (though one so easy of prodoction,) is not one, named that

honourable mention is made oft:Malec as an article of ex ha qi 20/. staling: that sugar is therein mentioned iis IS wlith to the amount of5001, and that tobacco and ruin :Ir. ,:/a, Who/ S imported, to the extent of 3,l00/. and at/. re.,peetivelv : and ail this, w it 11 a soil, as aliona in the appendix, su,thI,/. fi'rr is rovicrd ;about' at ahd. told. per diem. rent encouragement, truly, kir a further and enlarged tind

of the experiment ' elsew here.

" But we shall mak:mute to show what that large proportion of Arlie:1n commerce' really is, ' which has taken refuge, as it were, in a spot so incon- venient.'

By official tables laid before Parliatniat.t, aid printed last year, it appears, that the total amount of eximrts from Sierra Leone to ;,11 ittarters in 1836 (the latest table given) were as follows- " la ginger, pepper, arrowroot, rice, coffee, (the last to the extent of 20/. sterling,) to the value of -£4,577 "In comwmul, plank, gum, hiiiluis, ox-horns, ivory. Ivas.- wax, &c.

to the value of 7,127 "In palm-oil, not produced in the colony, though shipped there, but from distant parts of the coast 11,570 "Iii timber, not procured in the colony, though clearvil at its

Customhouse 48,653 " Such are the returns limn commerce to Sierra litaine, And if such be the result after fifty years' losterhig care or philanthropists. and the expo:anti:re of millions of public money, what are we to expect front it trial clsewhere of the experiment on a holier scale I Turning to the second ground, the assumption that there exists an "exclusion qf le!ritimate ('ommerce" from the Niger is shown to be unfounded.

"Ind first, us to the eyelosion leoiiimole eommerr,, it us take a had: at the actual trade to that river. the Ngil, i,ui which or are told I none is Ionia' This river, we need hardly siato, is now. known to flow into the Atlantic, bv its several mouths in the Bight of this is• and it may he readily ascot:Motel, he reference to the Cost innhouse hooks of I.iverpool, that the import of paluti- Oil the West coast of Africanine-tenths of it bet Inc from the Bight of Biafra) into Liverpool alone, in 1836, the year above-nroned in reference to Sierra Leone, was 9,783 tons, and in 1839, 14,126 tons ; besides ivany and Other commodities to a large amount, the quantitius nod values or which arc not so easily ascertainable. To say tiothing of ti;. -e last, however, the value of this oil alone is, at the present price of the article, about half a million sterling, procured ill exile:lige almost exclusively for British manufactures ; mid if his ail three- fiotrais at has, (ill' to the value of about $50,00:10 Prodncul and manniiiet rl ui the nod from its Such is the legitimate trade ax a river, on which the proiect ors of an expedition to It bylieve and tell us 'none is found :' a trade which took its rise from the date of the abolition of the slave traffic by England, hut which has madc its principal advancement in the lust twenty years; a trade with England, the formation of which has not cost Government a shilling, though now giving employment to from 12,000 tu 15,000 tons of British shipping annually, front the port of Liverpool only." The allegation that 140,000 slaves are annually exported from the Bights of Benin and. Biafra is next prGved to be untrue. Mr. JAMIESON shows, in the first place, that time assertion rests upon insufficient evidence; and he produces, in time second place, satis- Iltctory evidence to show that it is impossible. " Again, in reference to the other allegation, that there is an annual export n,i'sl,c,s from tltese parts, to the extent of 140,000 annually—the correctness of which we deny—we request :attention to the following extracts of letters on which that allegation is founded, and which we find in The Slave- Trade, ad- dreesed to the author of that book by Governor M'Leatt, of Cape Coast Castle. The first hears date the 11th June 1838, and was written during Governor .11‘1.eati's visit to this country ; the other is dated front Cape Coast, in Octo- ber of the smut is year, mum his return to Africa. 'June 18,14.--i with your ‘vishes. I beg le.cre to :date to you. iu this form, vdcd 1 hate:lin:all!. Inclitioncil to yos ; Iii11110/y, 111ilt ill the year 1834 I have et cry to ',Mimi. that the number or states i'ioried Mr from the Bights of Benin told Iliah'a iuin,iimuil.t to 1-10,0110. I have nut the 1o:0;1,1111r date whereon 1 21 numut 111IS ; hilt I eau stale generally, that I :minded it upon the tnitober or slove•ve,sels aelmilty pie,seil the 'orb: on the I /old Coast during that year. tool it tho.... lit Mhos, tiresome un the mast 1 had I:net:tin infortuatiou fr tar Majesty's cruisers nr October 18.;S.---S!..t el, have continued to pass the tbrls, sonic of them, as usual, tdoppiug here. l'imn Nark..., numb i's that 1 lime matle, and le: collating my inform- Mimi, IS mire viol nonl sot oral igintriais, I t,iti state as ii III that there are at this mo- ment in the eoast 1yd:hand yotkla, c•dlips, all ander " Now, tie hi.g it nia■ parlicidarly noticed, that the former of these letters speaks of the 'slave-trade in 'Ille Biyhts qt* Ilia alai Biafra in 1834, while the latter 'I oaks of it • opai thc roast' i 1S:IS. It is 1Weerisary particularly to note this, because, front overloulsiog, this eiretainstance, the projectors of the Niger Expedition appear to have fallen into the grand mistake of assuming that the Slave-trade still continues in the Bights in questiom to tat least as great an exteot as in 1834. .11141 accordingly, upon this assumption, the following st :diluent is given in The Sian, Trade, p. 52, of the annual export of slaves from all parts of .1 irk a, viz.—

- ' From the South-eastern coast 15,000 . ,2Angola, &t. :2999 Front the Ports to the Northward of Cape 30,000 ('oust 74,929 say 75,000

Cin hy Mv, McLean for the exports from the Bights

of Benin and Biafra 140,000 215,0110'

Now, supposing each vessel to carry on the average 400 slaves, mill to pro- cure her cargo (Iii the average in two montli.,, the quota here alleged to have been supplied by tl ie I iglit s of Ilenin muuiul Biafra, would have required a RUC- cession of not t I inn lit) slave- ships continuously kept up, or the arrival and depart um of :it;it ships within the year, upon a range of about :its) miles of coast constantly traversed lay our cruisers! The thing 5ee1110 ii 'Milli' in- credilde 1- Pot however this inay have been in 1831, Ive are prepared to show, by the test i mony iii lisSili•O:1111l. 1111.111, (.01111112111110%, and supercargoes of ve.:sels trading to the coast—testimony, the correetuess of MM.!, in-emir:re may ant- day be satisMutorily ascertained it the Admiralty, by reference to the log-books of our cruisers oil the coast ---that. a great and important change has taken place in It-3 -9. Fr.nit such testimony procured in writing, now I) hug before 118, we select the Mllowing- " 'To 1111111:11:1' IISQ.

I. • his ill sisl , 11;111 1 lily 1840. ' Sir-- Being on 11.1. polot sailiii2 ror Africa, I, at ■ our rmplest, state h. writing, %that 1 Iiins airesilt melange,' hi pair healiim, that 1 nas la Itonny last voyage. Dont the mom]i ix tii-1,1wr tlor month of Maiel., this ear, illirilig mm Melt time • That I at., iiioos in that ii, ''v in 1;13t4, fr. In limy IS lire during which time It ea. on') ono slaNcr there; awl Ilial it is oly opinion the export of slaves noiu many in,a• I. it ii, ■•11■1, if the saint. watellfulticss be shown by /ICI' NlajeSly'S erllissFS iis " 1 relnaill, Sir, >our most " ' Prrint Docat.AR, commanding the barque Brutus."

.' . Liverpool,251 .11.1 1840.

" I IIMY slate ill Wl'il hr.!, Milt 1 illve heron. to yoli vt•ElrOly, jram,ly, lIeu I 05.5 in ill 1110 Old l'i111L- bill' It ix el-. .1trie.t, float tl..• :23.1..f February to the .21st er September 18,r,h isit Imo the aid>. en:::ued in the SlaNt-Ir.'ile ii the hit Ph', uI.iriiis thu,it tone, were two suoill ...chooners, fr....1 Prince auk owned 1.■ linci et Colour at Pt Mee's, both e hiI.,ti ttere taken I, her :tlansay., iia-r his iiuii tile litei and I firmly licit the SMNediade is entirely at emt in Old Cal:11.n.. ana ill non- Iln. izilanen I, loopi ip hy the her Nia ,..a• erokeis till 11131 Isli Ike sas, essiosoijelitiss with tim river Imre Fern:mil. Po, that it is quite impossible for a shoer I uuu',';'..pe biall Calabar it' vigi- hintl■ lisikeit alter, tads I am really to gi i ' my solemn declaration to before a )1a4islrate, if

required. •• W. 11Ioss.' " I alll, sly, your obedient humble servant, " ' Licertuad, t5:1,1 July 1840.

" ' lit reply to your inonirv, I heg to imbrm you. that I WilsW Ills hallow C'hathant and selmone. illernomt at 1...111eloons. from the 011 .11uril to the lait..r end of

November 1S..9, and 111..1 durihg th 1 time there l••Nii,lit I tti•rli lie in the

it ulli llo. nxeoption :t small rebooner, lielonglii4 lu Ow ISIalid or

Prince's, and manned to thaeks. :the [Maid Carr% 1510111 \ slit,',; I,.nu lett, after

remaining. three mouth, tt :Peed obtaining tva. likeeimi at Cornering), in the Snalliiiiere Your moiltIls, in the year 1s38, and there st is no slaver sway? The assumption is a mistake, and akin to that which we have just exposed in the alleged total absence of legitimate commerce from the same quarters. " The fact is, that in his anxiety to show so great an export of slaves from the Bights of Benin and Biafra, the writer of The Slave-Trade seems to have overlooked the withdrawal of the traffic to another part of the coast ; namely, the South-western, embracing the Portuguese possessions of .Angola and Benguela, and the countries of Congo and Loango immediately to the North ward of these, as likewise the South-eastern coast. Here, be it observed, up to a very late period, our cruisers had no powers to capture slave vessels under the Portuguese flag, whereas they had powers of capture on the Northern coast ; and the distance to and from Brazil is short, and the voyage easily and speedily performed."

Mr. JAMIESON is not contented with demonstrating that Sir POWELL BUXTON'S grounds are untenable : he points out the errone- ous views of commercial policy which pervade and taint his whole project, and render it impossible of accomplishment. After showing that there exists a "legitimate commerce on the Niger," he proceeds to state this comprehensive and important truth. " So much for private enterprise (the soul of British commerce) when let alone. From the ihty it is interfered with by Government, the progress of trade must stop. No private merchant can keep his ground in or near a Government-merchant, or Government. philanthropic-merchant settlement, bolstered and sustained by the public purse and by public subscription : he must withdraw. The men who are really traders, who are competent to the well-conducting of business, go away ; the zeal and activity of private in- terest are lost; competition ceases; and the native finds it of no use to raise and prepare the productions of the soil for which he cannot find a remunerat- ing price or a market. This, we honestly' believe, is the history of the failure of Sierra Leone, commercially. and agriculturally; and, impressed Ishii such a belief, we cannot withhold this our humble protest, against a trial of the. experiment ' on a larger scale.' It is useless to speak of trying to work it out 'on right principles,' Addle it is based in error."

And in conclusion, Mr. JAMIESON points out the probable ten- dency of Sir FOWELL'S bubble scheme to involve Great Britain in a " war with Nigritia ;" a ludicrous and degrading relation, but which must entail upon this country much expense, and upon Africa much misery, superaddcd to—not substituted for—the evils of the Slave- trade.

In the Letter to Lord Jomi RUSSELL prefixed to the "Grounds of Appeal" from which we have been quoting, Mr. JAMIESON frankly states the character in which he comes forward,—thus entitling himself to a candid and respectful attention,—and proves that his means of acquiring information regarding the subject he treats of are such as few, if any, but himself have engaged.

" It is with great reluctance that I again address your Lordship on the sub- ject of the Niger Expedition. As a private trader to that river, having at my individual expense built for the express purpose and sent out a steam-yessel to navigate and trade upon its waters, I in a former letter to your Lordship, dated 11th January last, respectfully inquired, whether the plans of the Society,' at whose urgency three steam-ships were to be sent to that river, ivould be fol- lowed out at the expense of the public ? and whether the cost and sailing ex- penditure of the vessels to be employed in the execution of such plans would be defrayed by Government? To which your Lordship was pleased to reply, that ' the expedition will be undertaken at the expense of her Majesty's Go- vernment, but will engage in no commercial transaction, either for the benefit of the Society for Promoting the Civilization of Africa, or for that of any pri- vate_parties whatever.' " Now, my Lord, before I proceed further, I beg here to mention, that I have since been given to understand, that although no commercial pursuit win be engaged in by Government, yet that merchandise, designed to promote the objects of the Society,' may be, and is to be conveyed up the Niger by 'melt Government vessels—vessels equipped, manned, and sailed at the public ex- pense. If I am correct in this, my Lord, then is it not apparent that the pri- vate merchant, who conveys his merchandise to the same quarter at his own cost, and especially by so expensive a means of transport as steam navigation, must necessarily retire before such unequal competition ; and that thus the expedition will defeat one of its own professed and principal objects-the en- couragement of trade with Africa: while the giving away of presents to chiefs, in articles of merchandise, as I have every reason to believe is intended, will further be injurious to the formation of commerce, as being a direct and unfair interference with the trader in the same articles, and as establishing a prece- dent which he cannot afford to follow; because his presents would, in the natural course of things, be made only in proportion to the extent of tnule done, in order to induce and encourage its increase; yet the continuance of the mis- chievous precedent above referred to, would nevertheless be looked for, perhaps 'insisted on from him at every, fresh visit.

"For these reasons, any Lord, I withdraw my steam-vessel from the Niger, if the expedition ascends that river. But on other grounds, likewise, I appeal against its purposes ; and I pray that your Lordship AVM not suppose that I make this appeal from any motive of personal advantage. It was not until I Lad invited and failed to obtain the cobperation of gentlemen in London, who have since become leading members of the Society ' now urging the Niger Expedition under Government, that I ventured to engage, single-handed, in so expensive mid hazardous an undertaking as the opening of a trade with the interior of Africa by means of steam navigation. I was well aware, my Lord, of the difficulties and losses which would have to be encounteredand sustained, perhaps for years, before the trade could be made remunerative ; and I looked

for the competition of my fellow merchants as soon as it was known to be so, as a necessary, adjunct towards the ultimate success of the grand object; for it

is from the vigour of competition that commerce advances and Nourishes. I should therefore feel satisfaction, and not disappointment, in withdrawing for a time from trade upon the Niger, if the pursuit were to he taken up and pro- secuted by others in a way which gave hope of its leading to a stucessful issue."

In making these copious extracts from a publication of small bulk, our object has been to allow Mr. JAximsos to tell his own story.

We adduce him as a witness against the foolish and mischievous project of Sir FowELL Byx-ros, which Government has seen fit to patronize. We called public attention to the egregious humbug of this project, while the Government organs were bolstering it up.

One, at least, of these journals has had its eyes opened by Mr. JAMIESON, perhaps others may follow. But Government still

patronizes the delusion. We are informed that the only reply

deigned to Mr. JAMIESON'S Letter when transmitted to Lord ,IonN RUSSELL before publication, were, that its statements had been sub- nutted to Sir FOWELL BUXTON—to the party interested in having Ourn disbelieved ! We have also been told that Sir FowELL has since been making at Liverpool those inquiries which ought tolls', preceded the publication of his book, or at all events, the involvisS this country in the expense of the Niger Expedition. As we do na anticipate a very impartial investigation on the part of Sir Font; we again submit for public consideration the propriety of extinguish. ing this new piece of quackery.