1840 Sept 29. Josias Booker to Samuel Gurney about the latter's object to send out a steamer to Africa as conveyed to him in a letter from W. …
1840; Gale Group;
Autores Resumo
Z 13. pp 461-64 1840 Sept 29. Josias Booker to Samuel Gurney about the latter's object to send out a steamer to Africa as conveyed to him in a letter from W. E. Forster in answer to one of his own. He states that a steamer such as the 'Caledonia' would not have the stowage necessary for transport of the palm oil and ivory they would buy with their goods in Africa, because of the need to carry fuel, and their venture could end in disaster as the Landers' did. He argues that a trading vessel accompanying the Expedition would be at a disadvantage since the gifts exchanged between the African Chiefs and the Queen would put the Africans against trading on a normal basis.He claims that a sailing vessel at the mouth of the river laden with goods was an absolute necessity for a trading venture, supported by a small steamer to enter the rivers and trade. As a merchant he could not readily recommend this, because of the initial capital outlay, without further information, such as would be achieved by a survey of the probable productivity of the area if properly managed. He insists that the way to stop slavery was to convince the chiefs that more profit could be obtained from the work of a man for a year than by selling him for life. All that was needed was skill and capital on the spot. Once such information had been obtained by the original experiment model farms could be similarly established in a number of places.
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