on the Western Coast of Africa, in the year 1792. With a Brief Notice of the Neighbouring Tribes, Soil, Productions, &c., and Some Observations on the facility of Colonizing that Part of Africa, with a View to Cultivation; and the Introduction of Letters and Religion to the Inhabitants: But more Particularly as the Means of Gradually Abolishing African Slavery.First edition. Large engraved folding map of Africa, hand coloured in outline. 4to. Original paper boards worn and torn, lacking backstrip. Boards and adjacent pages detached. Partial faint staining and creasing to last few leaves. Interior very good, uncut. [viii], xvi, 500pp. London, 1805.
A narrative of a curious episode in the history of the colonisation of Africa, recounting Beaver’s experiences of establishing a settlement on Bulama, an island near Sierra Leone. The scheme proved disastrous. His settlers were a pretty hopeless crowd, many of whom died as a result of illness and fatigue and Beaver was forced to abandon the settlement and return with the survivors to England. His decision to stand by the colonists meant disregarding an Admiralty Order to report at once for service at the outbreak of war, but the authorities felt his decision was justified and he was appointed First Lieutenant on H.M.S. Stately. Beaver died at Cape Town in 1813.
