Cape Coast Castle

Cape Coast Castle, or Cabo Cobso, a fortified town, the capital of the British settlements on the coast of Guinea, West Africa. The castle itself occupies a granite rock projecting into the sea, and is flanked by Forts William and Victoria. Moisture, heat, a swampy soil, and a deficiency of drinking water make the climate unhealthy, but in the last ten years many sanitary improvements have been effected. The natives, principally Fanti negroes, with an admixture of Kroomen and mulattoes, live in mud huts. The Portuguese were the earliest colonists, but they were displaced by the Danes (1658) and the Dutch (1659). The English occupied the place in 1664, and have held it ever since, the government being in the hands of a president, who is subordinate to the Governor of the Gold Coast. Palm oil, maize, gold dust, and tortoiseshell are the chief exports.