[Drop-Head Title:] Extracts From The Report Of The Commissioners Appointed For Investigating The State Of The Settlements And Governments On The Coast Of Africa [Parliament]

19pp, [1]. Docket title to verso of terminal leaf. [Bound with:] [Drop-head title:] Further paper relating to the slave trade. Viz. Observation by William Dawes, Esquire, one of the Commissioners ;- in addition to the Report made by the Commission of African Enquiry. - 1811. [London?] [s.n.], [1812]. [21]-22pp, [1]. Docket title to verso of terminal leaf. Folio. Disbound. Stab-stitch holes to gutters. Later resewn. Early manuscript page numbers to upper margins. A rare survival of a report on the condition of British territories on the Gold Coast of Africa, in particular efforts to tarry the Spanish and Portuguese slave trade. Of interest are the expense tables showing the cost of maintaining British forts in the region; Cape Coast Castle, for example, has an average annual charge of £3,277, with 'Black Men's Pay' making up £179 and 'Castle Slaves' costing £990. The report is here paired with the second located copy of an addendum by sometime governor of Sierra Leone, William Dawes (1762-1836), that whilst broadly agreeing with the findings, nevertheless suggests an increase in naval power off the African Coast. Soon after this paper was printed, Dawes, at the suggestion of William Wilberforce, travelled to Antigua to work for the anti-slavery cause there. OCLC and COPAC together record copies of the first mentioned work at just three locations (John Carter Brown, NLW, and Princeton). OCLC records a single copy of the second mentioned work (NLSA); COPAC adds no further.