Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, a British settlement and Colony in Western Africa, occupying a peninsula about 25 miles by 12 miles, and several islands on the south coast of Senegambia, near the mouth of the Rokello or Sierra Leone river. It was established in 1787, and colonised by liberated negro slaves. The soil is exceedingly rich, but most of it is covered by rank forest growth, and the climate is very unhealthy. Freetown is the residence of the Governor and the administrative centre, as well as the seat of an Anglican bishopric.