in it, and tolerably well
sheltered. At two leagues from Goree is the bay of Ben, which affords the
greatest facilities for the careening of vessels, and for the repairs of
which they may stand in need.

The Island of Goree is cool during the evening, the night and the morning;
but during the day, there prevails in the island an unsupportable heat,
produced by the reflection of the sun's rays, which fall perpendicularly on
the Basalt rocks which surround it. If we add to this the stagnation of the
air, the circulation of which is interrupted by the houses, being very
closely built, a considerable population, which continually fills the
streets, and is beyond all proportion with the extent of the town, it will
be readily conceived that all these reasons, powerfully contribute to
concentrate here such insupportable heat, that one can scarcely breathe at
noon day. The blacks too, who certainly know what hot countries are, find
the heat excessive, and prefer living at St. Louis.

The Island of Goree may become of the greatest importance if the government
should ever think proper to establish a powerful colony, from Cape Verd to
the river Gambia; then this isle would be the bulwark of the settlements on
the coast of Africa. But it will be objected that Goree is very small, and
that great establishments can never be formed there; we think, only, that
it is proper to be the central point, till a greater colony shall be
established on Cape Verd, which nature seems to have intended for it, and
the advantages of which, in a military and maritime point of view, are of
the highest importance. Men of sound judgment who have examined it, have
considered it calculated to become one day a second Cape of Good Hope. It
is certain that, with time and by means of some works, this Cape would
become highly interesting, and would serve as a _depot_, to accustom to the
climate, such Europeans, as might wish to settle either in the projected
colonies, or on those which might be founded, between this Cape and the
Gambia, or on the islands of Todde, Reffo, Morphil, Bilbas, and even in the
kingdom of Galam.

The position and figure of Cape Verd are such, that it would be easy to
form there an excellent port at a small expense; perhaps it would not be
impossible to make some use of the Lake or _Marigot_ of Ben, which is but a
short distance from the sea. Its road, which is the same as that of Goree,
might almost serve as a port, even in its prese