GUINEA, is a maritime district in the south-west part of Africa, to which various limits are assigned by different nations. The Dutch consider it as extending from Cape Blanco, 21° North Lat. to Cape Lopez, in South Lat. making Sierra Leona, in 8i0 North Lat. the boundary be tween North and South Guinea. The Portuguese include, under the general name, the whole of the coast from Cape Ledo or Tagrin, 8° North Lat. to Cape Negro, 16° South Lat. making Cape Lopez the division between Upper and Lower Guinea. According to the French, Guinea lies he. twixt Cabo Monte, 111-° West Long. and Cape Lopez ; and, by the English, the tract between the mouth of the river Gambia, 121°, and Cape Palmas, 4° North Lat. is called North Guinea ; while South Guinea reaches from Cape Palmas to Cape Lopez. By the greater part of geographers, Upper Guinea is limited to that part of the coast which runs from cast to west about 5C0 leagues, comprehending Sierra Leona, Malaguetta, or the Grain Coast, the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast, and the kingdom of Benin. Of Lower Guinea, in the more confined application of the name, extending from :Lc kingdom of Benin to Cape Lopez, very little is known ex cept the line of coast; and we have only to refer our rea ders to the map of Africa in this work, for the names and situations of its principal districts. The southern division, between Capc Lopez and Cape Negro, has been explored, and occupied chiefly by the Portuguese; and its different countries, ANGOLA, BENGUELA, CONGO Proper, and Lo ANGO, are described under separate articles. It is to Up per Guinea, that our attention is at present to be directed, and particularly to that portion of it which is generally de nominated Guinea Proper, comprehending the Ivory, Gold, and Slave Coasts. BENIN has been already noticed ; and SIERRA LEONA will form the subject of a distinct article.
The interior of the Grain country is very little known, and its line of coast may be described in a few words. It is sometimes called the Pepper Coast, and Malaguetta, from the long pepper of that name ; but generally the Grain Coast, from the grain of paradise with which it abounds. It extends about 100 leagues from Cape Mesu rado to the vicinity of Cape Palmas; and is in general low, flat, covered with forests, and watered by unmet ous streams, The principal places along- the coast, are Rio Junco, or Rio del Punto, about 50 miles east of Cape Mesurado, a shallow stream, about 500 paces broad at its entrance, flowing through a level and delightful tract of country, which is inhabited by a peaceable and industrious people, who are principally employed in making salt and culti vating rice, and who trade in cotton cloth, sea horse teeth, skins of wild beasts, and slaves ;—the country of the Fol jas, or Pholeys, a powerful tribe, who are noted for the superior elegance of their speech, and whose territories are partly watered by the Junco;—Tabo-Dragon, a large and populous village on the east bank of the Tabo, or Rio Corso, where the merchants of Dieppe established a fac tory ;—Rio Sestos, about 50 miles from Rio Junco, said to be navigable by small barks for 25 miles, has several vil lages at its mouth and on its banks ; and the inhabitants, called Quabo-monou, are a pacific and well-proportioned race, subsisting on millet, fruits, and fish ;—Sanguin, Baffa, Setuna, Batoua, Cape Sino, Sestrokrou, Wappo, Great Sestro, Ste. all villages along the coast, of the
last mentioned is the most populous, and most noted for its trade in pepper and ivory, and is situated near Rio des Escravas. The Grain Coast is generally bordered with shoals ; and its staple commodities are long pepper, lea ther, ivory, gold-dust, and slaves.
The Ivory Coast extends about 110 leagues from west to east, from Cape Palmas to Cape Apollonia, in a low „strait line, with few bays or islands ; but a foul bottom and high surf prevent vessels from anchoring or landing upon any part of it with safety. Cape Palmas, formed by two hills covered with palms, in 4° 25' North Lat. and 12° East Long. has a small gulf behind it, where vessels may be sheltered from the south wind. Grova, a few miles east ward of Cape Palmas; Tabo-Duno, where there is a com modious road for shipping; Drevin Petri, a considerable village about 50 leagues east of Cape Palmas ; Giron, on the border of a well watered meadow ; Lahou, a populous town frequented by Europeans, and abounding in provi sions, and from which, eastward to Cape Apollonia, the coast is commonly called the country of the Quaquas ; Gamrno, a place to which the inhabitants of the interior bring down their articles of traffic ; Sueiro d'Acosta, where there is a small road for.ships ; Issini, where the French built a fort at the beginning of the 18th century ; Assoka, about five or six miles fru!) the sea coast, and said to con tain about 1000 inhabitant Albiani and Tabo, environed with plantations of palm trees ; Akani Mina, in the vicinity of Cape Apollonia, are the principal villages on the coast, and most of them are situated on the borders of rivers. The soil of the lower and maritime tracts produces cotton, indigo, cocoa nuts, fruit, rice, and other grain. The chief articles of trade are gold, ivory, salt, cotton, palm-wine, and oil. All sorts of tame animals abound in the country ; and immense numbers of elephants, tigers, panthers, ser pents, Sec. are found in the forests. This level coast is hounded by mountains well covered with wood, and where the vallies are generally fertile and populous.