would purchase a
pair of fowls or four yams, so great was the value which the natives
attached to iron.

The business of forming a new settlement, is a species of service
that requires the exercise of certain qualities of the mind, which it
is not the good fortune of every one to possess. In addition to the
pernicious effects of the climate on European constitutions, there
were people on the island, who, although they might be unable to
offer any serious impediment to the progress of the settlement, it
was necessary to conciliate than treat them with hostility, and for
this, no one could have been better calculated than Captain Owen.
Whatever may have induced him to relinquish the appointment of
governor, no measures for gaining the friendship of the natives, and
thereby securing their good will towards the colony, could have been
better than those which he adopted, and the chiefs even now
frequently mention his name.

The part selected as the site of the proposed settlement, was on the
northern side of the island on the borders of a small cove, formed by
a narrow neck of land projecting out from the shore on the eastern
side of it. This was named "Point William," and the cove, together
with the whole establishment was called "Clarence," after his most
gracious majesty, who was then lord high admiral of Great Britain.
Point Adelaide with two small islets off it, connected by a sand
bank, forms the western boundary of the cove, and is distant about
half a mile from Point William. Goderich Bay lies to the east, and
Cockburn Cove to the west of Clarence Cove. Under the able direction
of Captain Owen, the various buildings were planned, while the
operation of clearing the ground was going forward. A flag staff,
which formerly stood on the extremity of Point William, was removed
to the governor's house; and a large commodious building, with a few
solitary palm trees near it, is the first object which attracts
attention. This building was assigned as the hospital, and was
judiciously situated here, as it was the most exposed to the sea
breeze, and stood completely isolated from the rest of the
settlement, both which precautions were of no small importance in the
climate of Fernando Po. A small, round-topped building at a short
distance from the hospital, with a few huts near it, and surrounded
by stakes, was formerly the magazine, and near it was another large
building, used as the marine barracks. The officers' quarters